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THOUGHTS 

OF THE SERVANT OF GOD 

THERESE 

OF THE CHILD JESUS 



REMIGIUS LAFORT, S. T. D. 

Censor 

imprimatur 

^JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY 

Archbishop of New York 



NEW YORK, October 22, 1915 



DEC 30 1915 




THE SERVANT OF GOD 
THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS 



T H O UGH T S 

OF THE SERVANT OF GOD 
THERESE OF the CHILD JESUS 



THE LITTLE FLOWER OF JESUS 

CARMELITE OF THE MONASTERY 

OF LISIEUX, 1 873-1 897 

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH 
"PENSEES" BY AN IRISH CARMELITE 




■y =y?CTABUSHED 183^:™^ 



NEW YORK . PUBLISHED BY 
P. J. KENEDY & SONS • 1915 



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IS 



COPYRIGHT, I915 
BY P. J. KENEDY & SONS 



THE 'PLIMPTON 'PRESS 
NORWOOD -MASS • U-S'A 



)CI.A420098 



/ 



TO 



^ "PETITE THERESE 



AND 

MERE AGNES DE JESUS 

A LITTLE TRIBUTE OF 
REVERENT AND LOVING GRATITUDE 
FROM CaRMEL of KiLMACUD 

June 9, 1914 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Love of God 3 

Love of Our Neighbour 30 

Faith 40 

Hope 44 

Humility 50 

Detatchment 71 

Mortification 82 

Obedience . 95 

Poverty 97 

Confidence 100 

Self-Abandonment 115 

Gratitude 124 

Zeal 130 

Simplicity 136 

Prayer 147 

Holy Communion 157 

Suffering 162 

The Direction of Souls 180 

The Blessed Virgin 188 

Various Subjects 190 

Prayer for the Beatification of the 

Servant of God 211 



THOUGHTS 

OF THE SERVANT OF GOD 

TH^RESE 

OF THE CHILD JESUS 




LOVE OF GOD 

J ESUS! ... I would so love Him! 
Love Him as never yet He has been 
loved. . . 

IV LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 

(Her sister Pauline.) 

X HE science of love! Sweet is the 
echo of that word to the ear of my soul. 
I desire no other science. Having given all 
my substance for it, like the spouse in the 
Canticles, / think that I have given 
nothing} 

HISTOIRE d'uNE AME, CH. VIII 

V V ITHOUT love, deeds, even the most 
briUiant, count as nothing. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. VIII 

1 Cant., viii, 7. 



Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 



\JNE evening, at a loss for words to 
tell Jesus how I loved Him and how 
much I wished that He might be every- 
where served and glorified, I reflected 
with pain that not one act of love would 
ever mount upwards from out of the 
depths of hell. Then I cried out that 
wilhngly would I consent to see myself 
plunged into that place of torment and 
blasphemy, in order that He might be 
loved there eternally. That could not 
really glorify Him since He desires only 
our happiness, but love makes one want 
to say a thousand foohsh things. If I 
spoke thus, it was not that I did not 
long for heaven; but then, my heaven 
was none other than Love, and in my 
fervour I felt that nothing could separate 
me from the Divine object of my love. 

HIST. D*UNE AME, CH. V 

OEEING the eternal recompense so 
disproportionate to the trifling sacrifices 
of this hfe, I longed to love Jesus, to love 
Him ardently, to give Him a thousand 



Love of God 5 

proofs of tenderness while yet I could 
do so. . • 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. V 



T. 



HE love of God reveals itself in the 
very simplest soul who resists His grace 
in nothing, as well as in the most sub- 
Hme. Indeed, the characteristic of love 
being to humble itself, if all souls 
resembled those of the holy Doctors 
who have enhghtened the Church, the 
good God would not seem to descend 
low enough in coming to them. But He 
has created the infant who knows nothing 
and can only wail; He has created the 
poor savage who has but the natural 
law for guidance, and it is even unto their 
hearts that He deigns to stoop. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. I 



JlN order that Love may be fully satisfied 
it must needs stoop to very nothingness 
and transform that nothing into fire. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XI 



I 



Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



N times of aridity when I am incapable 
of praying, of practising virtue, I seek 
little opportunities, mere trifles, to give 
pleasure to Jesus; for instance '^ smile, a 
pleasant word when inchned to be silent 
and to show weariness. If I find no 
opportunities, I at least tell Him again 
and again that I love Him; that is not 
difficult and it keeps ahve the fire in 
my heart. Even though this fire of love 
might seem to me extinct I would still 
throw Httle straws upon the embers and 
I am certain it would rekindle. 



XVI LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



Or 



"N the day oj my conversion Charity 
entered into my heart and with it a 
yearning to forget self always; thence- 
forward I was happy. 



HIST. D UNE AME. CH. V 



I 



DO not will that creatures should 
possess a single atom of my love; I wish 
to give all to Jesus, since He makes me 



Love of God 7 

understand that He alone is perfect 
happiness. All shall be for Him, all! 
And even when I have nothing to offer 
Him I will give Him that nothing. 



A LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 



O 



'UR Lord is more tender than a 
mother, and well do I know more than 
one maternal heart! I know a mother 
is ever ready to forgive the little invol- 
untary faihngs of her child. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. VHI 



I 



KNOW of one means only by which 
to attain to perfection: Love. Let us 
love, since our heart is made for nothing 
else. Sometimes I seek another word 
to express Love, but in this land of 
exile the word which begins and ends ^ is 
quite incapable of rendering the vibra- 
tions of the soul; we must then adhere 
to this simple and only word: To Love. 
But on whom shall our poor heart 
lavish its love? Who shall be found that 

^ St. Augustine. 



8 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

is great enough to be the recipient of its 
treasures? Will a human being know 
how to comprehend them, and above 
all will he be able to repay? There 
exists but one Being capable of compre- 
hending love; it is Jesus; He alone can 
give us back infinitely more than we 
shall ever give to Him. 

LETTER TO HER COUSIN MARIE GUERIN 

X HERE is one only thing to do here 
below: to love Jesus, to win souls for 
Him so that He may be loved. Let us 
seize with jealous care every least oppor- 
tunity of self-sacrifice. Let us refuse Him 
nothing — He does so want our love! 



w. 



VI LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



HEN we really love, we rejoice in 
the happiness of the loved one and make 
every sacrifice to procure it for him. 



T. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



RUE love is nourished by sacrifice, 
and the more the soul denies itself 
natural satisfactions, the stronger and 



Love of God g 

the more disinterested becomes its tender- 
ness. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

X HE good God does not need years 
to accomplish His work of love in a soul; 
one ray from His Heart can, in an instant, 
make His flower bloom for eternity. . . 

VI LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 

I j OVF can supply for length of years. 
Jesus, because He is Eternal, regards not 
the time but only the love. 

V LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 

X DESIRE no sensible consolation in 
loving; provided Jesus feel my love that 
is enough for me. Oh! to love Him and 
to make Him loved. . how sweet it 
is. . . 

V LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 



O 



JESUS, I ask of Thee only Peace! 
. . . Peace, and above all Love — love 
without bound or hmit. Jesus, let me 
for Thy sake die a martyr; give me 



10 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

martyrdom of soul or body. Ah! rather 
give me both the one and the other! 



I 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. VIII 



HAVE no longer any desire unless it 
be to love Jesus even to folly ! Yes, Love 
it is that draws me. I can say these 
words of the canticle of our Father, St. 
John of the Cross : 

In the inmost cellar 

Of my Beloved have I drunk; and when I went 

forth 
Over all the plain 
I knew nothing, 

And lost the flock I followed before. 
My soul is occupied 
And all my substance in His service; 
Now I guard no flock, 
Nor have I any other employment: 
My sole occupation is love. 

(Spiritual Canticle, Trans. D. Lewis.) 



0. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. VIII 



'H! if souls weak and imperfect as 
mine, felt what I feel, not one would 
despair of reaching the summit of the 
mountain of Love, since Jesus does not 



Love of God ii 

demand from us great deeds, but only 
self-surrender and gratitude. 

/ have no needy saith He, of the goats of 
thy flocks. . . If I were hungry I would 
not tell thee. . . Offer unto God the sacrifice 
of praise and thanksgiving.^ 

See then, all that Jesus asks of us! 
He has not need of our works but only 
of our love. This very God who declares 
that He needs not to tell us if He were 
hungry, did not hesitate to beg of the 
Samaritan woman a Httle water. . . He 
thirsted!!! But in saying: ''Give me to 
drink,'' ^ it was the love of His poor 
creature that the Creator of the universe 
besought. He thirsted for Love! 

And now, more than ever is Jesus 
athirst. He meets with none but the 
ungrateful and the indifferent among the 
disciples of the world; and amongst His 
own disciples He finds, alas! very few 
hearts that surrender themselves without 
any reserve to the tenderness of His 
infinite Love. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XI 

1 Cf. Ps. xlix, 9, 12, 14. 2 John, iv, 7. 



12 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

Since ever I have known Love's mighty power 
Thus hath it wrought its work within my soul — 
Whatever it fmdeth there, or good or ill. 
It turneth all to gain; its living flame 
Transforms my soul into its very self.^ 



He 



Low sweet is the way of Love! 
True, one may fall, one may not be 
always faithful, but Love, knowing how 
to draw profit from all, very quickly 
consumes whatsoever may displease Jesus, 
leaving naught but humble and profound 
peace in the innermost soul. 

HIST. D*UNE AME, CH. VIII 

X HINKING one day of those who 
offer themselves as victims to the Justice 
of God in order to turn aside the punish- 
ment reserved for sinners by taking it 
upon themselves, I felt this offering to be 
noble and generous, but I was far from 
feehng moved to make it. 

*'0 my Divine Master," I cried in 
the depths of my heart, "shall Thy 

^ St. John of the Cross. 



Love of God 13 

Justice alone receive victims of holocaust? 
Has not Thy Merciful Love also need of 
them? On all sides it is ignored, rejected 
. . . the hearts on which Thou wouldst 
lavish it turn to creatures, seeking happi- 
ness in miserable and fleeting aff'ections 
instead of casting themselves into Thine 
arms, into the ineffable furnace of Thine 
Infinite Love. 

*'0 my God, must Thy Love — dis- 
dained — remain within Thy Heart? 
Methinks that if Thou shouldst find 
souls offering themselves as victims of 
holocaust to Thy Love, Thou wouldst 
consume them rapidly ; that Thou wouldst 
be glad not to restrict the flames of 
infinite tenderness pent up within 
Thee. 

^* If Thy Justice — the Justice which 
Thou dost exercise on earth — be pleased 
to find voluntary victims on which to 
discharge its weight, how much the more 
must Thy Merciful Love also desire its 
victims, since Thy Mercy reacheth even 
to heaven,^ 

1 Cf. Ps. XXXV, 6. 



14 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

**0 Jesus, that happily I may be that 
holocaust consume Thy httle victim in 
the fire of Divine Love." 



HIST. D UNE AME. CH. VIII 



A, 



lH! since that day love penetrates me 
and surrounds me; this Merciful Love 
each moment renews and purifies me, 
leaving in my heart no trace of sin. No, 
I cannot fear Purgatory; I know that I 
do not merit even to enter with the Holy 
Souls into that place of expiation, but 
I know too that the fire of Love is more 
sanctifying than the fire of Purgatory, L 
know that Jesus cannot will needless 
suffering for us, and that He would not 
inspire me with the desires I feel if He 
were unwilling to fulfil them. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. VIII 

J_ O off'er oneself as a Victim to Divine 
Love is not to off'er oneself to sweetness 
— to consolation; but to every anguish, 
every bitterness, for Love fives only by 
sacrifice; and the more a soul wills to be 



Love of God 15 

surrendered to Love, the more must she 
be surrendered to suffering. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XH 



I 



N order to love Jesus, to be His victim 
of love, the more weak and miserable we 
are, the more fitting are we for the 
operations of this consuming and trans- 
forming Love. . . The sole desire to be 
victim suffices; but we must consent to 
remain always poor and without strength, 
and there hes the difficulty, for where shall 
be found the truly poor in spirit? He 
must be sought afar off,^ saith the author 
of the Imitation. . . He did not say 
that we must seek him amongst great 
souls, but afar off, that is to say in lowh- 
ness, in nothingness. . . Oh! let us keep 
afar off from all that ghtters, let us love 
our httleness, and be satisfied to feel 
nothing, then shall we be truly poor in 
spirit, and Jesus will come to seek us 
how far soever we may be; He will 
transform us into flames of Love! . . . 

VI LETTER TO SCEUR MARIE DU SACRE-CCEUR 

{Her sister Marie.) 
^ Cf. Imit., II, xi, 4. 



i6 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 

X O be truly a Victim of Love requires 
absolute self-surrender. The soul is con- 
sumed by Love only in so Jar as she 
surrenders herself to Love, 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



I 



T appears to me that for Victims of 
Love there will be no judgment, but 
rather, that the good God will hasten to 
recompense with eternal dehghts His 
own Love, which He will see burning in 
their hearts. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Ai 



lT any cost I will cull the palm of 
Saint Agnes; if not by shedding my 
blood then it must be by Love. . . 



IV LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 







MY God, Thou knowest I have 
never desired but to love Thee alone. 
I seek no other glory. Thy Love has 
gone before me from my childhood, it 
has grown with my growth, and now it is 



Love of God I? 

an abyss the depths of which I cannot 
fathom. ^^^^ d'une ame, ch. xi 

LjOVE attracts love, mine rushes forth 
unto Thee, it would fain fill up the 
abyss which attracts it; but alas! it is 
not even as one drop of dew lost in the 
Ocean. To love Thee as Thou lovest 
me I must borrow Thy very love — then 
only, can I find rest. 

HIST. D*UNE AME, CH. XI 

J UST as a torrent sweeps along with 
it unto the depths of the sea whatsoever 
it encounters on its course, even so, my 
Jesus, does the soul which plunges into 
the boundless ocean of Thy Love draw 
after her all her treasures. Lord, Thou 
knowest that for me these treasures " are 
the souls it has pleased Thee to unite to 

^^^^- HIST. d'uNE ame, ch. XI 



G 



_.HARITY gave me the key to my vo- 
cation. I understood that the Church 
being a body composed of different 



1 8 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 

members, the most essential, the most 
noble of all the organs would not be 
wanting to her; I understood that the 
Church has a heart and that this heart 
is burning with love; that it is love alone 
which makes the members work, that if 
love were to die away apostles would no 
longer preach the Gospel, martyrs would 
refuse to shed their blood. I understood 
that love comprises all vocations, that 
love is everything, that it embraces all 
times and all places because it is eternal! 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XI 

vJ MY Well-Beloved! I understand 
to what combats Thou hast destined 
me; it is not on the battle field that I 
shall fight ... I am prisoner of Thy 
Love; freely have I riveted the chain 
which unites me to Thee and separates 
me for ever from the world. My sword 
is Love; with it I shall chase the stranger 
from the kingdom, I shall make Thee to be 
proclaimed King in the souls of men. 

HIST. d'UNE AME, APPENDIX 



Love of God 19 

LjOVE! . . . that is what I ask. . . 
I know but one thing now — to love 
Thee, O Jesus! Glorious deeds are not 
for me, I cannot preach the Gospel, 
shed my blood. . . what does it matter? 
My brothers toil instead of me, and I, 
the little child, I keep quite close to the 
royal throne, / love for those who fight. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XI 



He 



Low shall I show my love since love 
is proved by deeds? Well, — the little 
child will strew flowers. . . she will embalm 
the Divine Throne with their fragrance, will 
sing with silvery voice the canticle of love. 
Yes, my Beloved, it is thus that my 
life's brief day shall be spent before 
Thee. No other means have I of proving 
my love than to strew flowers; that is, 
to let no Httle sacrifice escape me, not a 
look, not a word, to avail of the very 
least actions and do them for Love. 
I wish to suff'er for Love's sake and for 
Love's sake even to rejoice; thus shall 
I strew flowers. Not one shall I find 



20 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 

without shedding its petals for Thee . . . 
and then I will sing, I will always sing, 
even if I must gather my roses in the 
very midst of thorns — and the longer 
and sharper the thorns the sweeter shall 
be my song. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XI 



s< 



;CEUR Therese de F Enfant Jesus 
often spoke of a well-known toy with 
which in childhood's days she had amused 
herself: a kaleidoscope; in form some- 
what hke a small telescope; on looking 
through, one sees an endless succession 
of pretty and many-coloured designs, 
varying at each turn of the kaleidoscope. 

'*This toy," she said, "aroused my 
admiration and I used to wonder what 
could produce so pleasing a phenomenon; 
when one day, after serious examination, 
I saw there were simply a few tiny scraps 
of paper and of wool cut no matter how, 
and thrown here and there. I pursued 
my investigation and discovered three 
mirrors inside the tube: I had there the 
key to the problem. 



Love of God 21 

"This was for me the image of a great 
mystery. As long as our actions, even 
the least of them, remain within the focus 
of Love, the Blessed Trinity, which is 
figured by the three mirrors, reflects 
them, and endows them with a wondrous 
beauty. Jesus, looking at us through the 
little lens, that is to say, as it were through 
Himself, finds all our actions pleasing to 
Him. But if we leave the ineff'able 
centre of Love, what will He see? Mere 
straws. . . actions sulhed and nothing 
worth." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



X HIS httle prayer which includes all 
my desires I ask you to say for me each 
day: 

*' Merciful Father, in the name of Thy 
sweet Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin and 
of the Saints, I pray Thee that my sister 
be fired with Thy spirit of love, and that 
Thou wilt grant her the grace to make 
Thee greatly loved." 

If God should take me soon to Himself, 
I ask you to continue each day this same 



22 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

prayer, for in Heaven my desire will be 
the same as upon earth; to love Jesus 
and to make Him loved. 



Ill LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY BROTHERS 



s. 



;HE was looking at the sky one day 
when some one remarked to her: 

**Very soon you will dwell beyond the 
blue sky; with what love you contemplate 
it!" 

She merely smiled, but afterwards 
said to the Mother Prioress : 

** Mother, our Sisters httle know what 
I suffer! Looking at the blue sky I was 
thinking only of the beauty of the material 
heavens; the other is more and more closed 
to me, . . I was at first distressed by 
that remark, then an interior voice 
answered: *Yes, through love thou didst 
look at the heavens. Since thy soul is 
wholly consecrated to Love, all thy 
actions, even the most indifferent, bear 
the impress of this divine seal.' I was 
instantly consoled." 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



Love of God 23 



u 



' NTIL two days before her death she 
wished to be alone at night, however, 
notwithstanding her entreaties, the In- 
firmarian used to rise several times to 
visit her. On one occasion she found 
our httle invahd with hands clasped and 
eyes raised to Heaven. 

**But what are you doing?" she asked; 
*'you should try to sleep." 

"I cannot, dear Sister, I suffer too 
much! then I pray. . ." 

"And what do you say to Jesus?" 

"I say nothing, / love Him!'' 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



A 



SISTER was speaking to her of the 
happiness of Heaven: Therese inter- 
rupted, saying: 

"It is not that which attracts me. . ." 

"What is it then?" 

"Oh! it is Love! To love, to be 
beloved, and to come back to earth to make 
Love lovedJ' 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



24 Thoughts of Sceur Therese 

I j OVF alone have I ever given to the 
good God, with love He will repay me. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



Ai 



L.LL that I have written regarding 
my desire of suffering is most true; oh! 
I do not repent of having surrendered 
myself to Love. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



il ESUS! Jesus! if it be so sweet to desire 
Thy Love, what will it be to possess and 
to enjoy it for ever! 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XI 







JESUS! could I but tell all little 
souls of Thine ineffable condescension! 
... I feel that if it were possible to find 
one more weak than mine Thou wouldst 
take dehght in showering upon her 
greater favours still, provided that she 
abandoned herself with entire confidence 
to Thine Infinite Mercy. 



Love of God 25 

But why these desires, O my Beloved, 
to impart the secrets of Thy Love? Is 
it not Thyself alone Who hast made 
them known to me and canst Thou not 
reveal them to others? Yes, I know it 
and I implore Thee to do so: I beseech 
Thee to let Thy divine gaze rest upon an 
immense number of little souls, I beseech 
Thee to choose in this world a Legion of 
little victims worthy of Thy Love! 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XI 



He 



LER last words — looking at her 
crucifix : 

"Oh! . . . I Love Him! . . . My God, 
L . . Love. . . Thee!!!" 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 







MY God, Most Blessed Trinity, I 
desire to love Thee and to make Thee 
loved, to labour for the glory of Holy 
Church by saving souls still on earth and 
by dehvering those who suffer in purga- 
tory. I desire to accomphsh Thy Will 
perfectly, and to attain to the degree of 



26 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 

glory which Thou hast prepared for me 
in Thy Kingdom, in one word, I desire 
to be a saint, but I know that I am 
powerless, and I implore Thee, O my 
God, to be Thyself my sanctity. 

Since Thou hast so loved me as to 
give me Thine only Son to be my Saviour 
and my Spouse, the infinite treasures of 
His merits are mine, to Thee I offer 
them with joy, beseeching Thee to see 
me only as in the Face of Jesus and in 
His Heart burning with Love. 

Again, I offer Thee all the merits of 
the Saints — in Heaven and on earth — 
their acts of love and those of the holy 
Angels; and finally I offer Thee, O 
Blessed Trinity, the love and the merits 
of the Holy Virgin, my most dear Mother; 
it is to her I entrust my oblation, begging 
her to present it to Thee. 

Her Divine Son, my well-beloved 
Spouse, during His fife on earth, told us: 
"// you ask the Father anything in My 
Name He will give it to you,'' ^ I am then 
certain that Thou wilt hearken to my 

^ John, xvi, 23. 



Love oj God 27 

desires. . . My God, I know it, the 
more Thou wiliest to give the more dost 
Thou make us desire. Immense are 
the desires that I feel within my heart, 
and it is with confidence that I call upon 
Thee to come and take possession of my 
soul. I cannot receive Thee in Holy 
Communion as often as I would; but, 
Lord, art Thou not Almighty? . . . 
Remain in me as in the Tabernacle — 
never leave Thy httle Victim. 

I long to console Thee for the ingrati- 
tude of the wicked and I pray Thee take 
from me the hberty to displease Thee! 
If through frailty I fall sometimes, may 
Thy Divine glance purify my soul 
immediately, consuming every imper- 
fection — Hke to fire which transforms 
all things into itself. 

I thank Thee, O my God, for all the 
graces Thou hast bestowed on me, and 
particularly for making me pass through 
the crucible of suffering. It is with joy 
I shall behold Thee on the Last Day 
bearing Thy sceptre — the Cross; since 
Thou hast deigned to give me for my 



28 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

portion this most precious Cross, I have 
hope of resembhng Thee in Heaven and 
seeing the sacred stigmata of Thy Passion 
shine in my glorified body. 

After exile on earth I hope to enjoy 
the possession of Thee in our eternal 
Fatherland, but I have no wish to amass 
merits for Heaven, I will work for Thy 
Love alone, my sole aim being to give 
Thee pleasure, to console Thy Sacred 
Heart, and to save souls who will love 
Thee for ever. 

At the close of hfe's evening I shall 
appear before Thee with empty hands, 
for I ask not, Lord, that Thou wouldst 
count my works. . . All our justice is 
tarnished in Thy sight. It is therefore 
my desire to be clothed with Thine own 
Justice and to receive from Thy Love the 
eternal possession of Thyself. I crave 
no other Throne nor other Crown but 
Thee, O my Beloved! . . . 

In Thy sight time is nothing, one day 
is as a thousand years, ^ Thou canst in an 
instant prepare me to appear before Thee. 

^ CJ. Ps. Ixxxix, 4. 



Love of God 29 

That I may live in one Act of perfect 

Love, I OFFER MYSELF AS A ViCTIM OF 

Holocaust to Thy Merciful Love, 
imploring Thee to consume me without 
ceasing, and to let the tide of infinite 
tenderness pent up in Thee, overflow 
into my soul, that so I may become a 
very martyr of Thy Love, O my God! 

May this martyrdom, having first 
prepared me to appear before Thee, break 
hfe's thread at last, and may my soul 
take its flight, unretarded, into the 
eternal embrace of Thy Merciful Love. 

I desire, O Well-Beloved, at every 
heart-beat to renew this Oblation an 
infinite number of times, till the shadows 
retire ^ and I can tell Thee my love 
eternally face to face! 

[Signed] MARIE-FRANgOISE-THERESE 

DE l'eNFANT JESUS ET DE LA SAINTE FACE 

Rel. Carm. ind. 

Feast of The Most Holy Trinity. 
The 9th of June in the year of grace, 1895. 

1 Cant., iv, 6. 




LOVE OF OUR 
NEIGHBOUR 

HERE are moments when we are so 
wretched within, that we must needs 
hurry away from ourselves. The good 
God does not obhge us to remain at such 
times in our own company; indeed He 
often permits that it should be displeasing 
to us just that we may leave it. And I 
see no other means of going out of our- 
selves than by going to visit Jesus and 
Mary, that is, hastening to deeds of 
charity. 



I 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



APPLIED myself above all to practise 
quite hidden httle acts of virtue; thus 
I hked to fold the mantles forgotten 
by the Sisters, and sought a thousand 
opportunities of rendering them service. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. VII * 



Love of Our Neighbour 31 



Hai 



^D I been rich I never could have 
borne to see a poor person hungry with- 
out giving him to eat. It is the same in 
my spiritual Hfe: knowing there are 
souls on the point of falHng into Hell, I 
give them my treasures according as I 
earn anything, and I have never yet 
found a moment to say: *'Now I am 
going to work for myself." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



I 



FEEL that when I am charitable it is 
Jesus alone who acts in me; the more 
I am united to Him the more do I love 
all my Sisters. If, when I desire to 
increase this love in my heart, the demon 
tries to set before my eyes the faults of 
one or other of the Sisters, I hasten to call 
to mind her virtues, her good desires; 
I say to myself that if I have seen her 
fall once, she may well have gained 
many victories which she conceals through 
humility; and that even what appears 
to me a fault may in truth be an act of 
virtue by reason of the intention. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 



32 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

True Charity consists in bearing with 
all the defects of our neighbour, in not 
being surprised at his failings, and in 
being edified by his least virtues ; Charity 
must not remain shut up in the depths 
of the heart, for no man lighteth a candle 
and putteth it under a bushel, but upon a 
candlestick, that it may shine to all that 
are in the house,^ It seems to me that 
this candle represents the Charity which 
ought to enhghten and make joyful, not 
only those who are dearest to me, but all 
who are in the house. 



T, 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. IX 



HERE is no artist who does not Hke 
his work praised, and the Divine Artist 
of souls is pleased when we do not stop 
at the exterior, but penetrating even 
to the inmost sanctuary which He has 
chosen for His dwelhng, we admire its 

^' HIST. d'uNE AME,^CH. IX 

X OUGHT to seek the company of 

those Sisters who according to nature 

1 CJ. Matt., V, 15. 



Love of Our Neighbour 33 

please me least. I ought to fulfil in 
their regard the office of the Good 
Samaritan. A word, a kindly smile, will 
often suffice to gladden a wounded and 
sorrowful heart. 



0, 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. X 



"H! what peace inundates the soul 
when she rises above natural sentiment. 
No joy can compare with that known to 
one who is truly poor in spirit. If he 
ask with detachment for some necessary 
thing, and it is not only refused him, but 
an attempt made besides to deprive him 
of what he already has, he follows the 
counsel of our Lord: ''And ij a man will 
contend with thee in judgment and take 
away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto 
him,'' ^ 

To yield up our cloak means, I think, 
to renounce our last rights, to consider 
oneself as the servant, the slave of 
others. When we have abandoned our 
mantle it is easier to walk, to run; there- 
fore Jesus adds: ''And whosoever will 
force thee one mile, go with him other two,'' ^ 
1 Matt., V, 40. 2 Matt., v, 41. 



34 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

It is not enough that I should give to 
whosoever may ask of me, I must fore- 
stall their desires, and show that I feel 
much gratified, much honoured in render- 
ing service; and if they take a thing 
that I use, I must seem as though glad 
to be relieved of it. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. IX 



I 



F it is hard to give to whoever asks, it 
is still harder to let what belongs to us 
be taken, without asking it back, or 
rather, I ought to say it seems hard; for 
the yoke of the Lord is sweet and light: ^ 
when we accept it we feel its sweetness 
immediately. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 



w> 



HEN Charity is deeply rooted in the 
soul it shows itself exteriorly: there is so 
gracious a way of refusing what we 
cannot give, that the refusal pleases as 
much as the gift. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 

1 CJ. Matt., xi, 30. 



Love oj Our Neighbour 35 

X O want to persuade our Sisters that 
they are in the wrong, even when it is 
perfectly true, is hardly fair, as we are 
not responsible for their guidance. We 
must not be Justices of the peace, but only 
angels of peace, 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

J ESUS wills that we give alms to Him 
as to one poor and needy. He puts 
Himself as it were at our mercy; He will 
take nothing but what we give Him from 
our heart, and the very least trifle is 
precious in His sight. He stretches 
forth His Hand, this sweet Saviour, to 
receive of us a Httle love, so that in the 
radiant day of Judgment He may be 
able to address to us those ineff'able 
words: ^^ Come, ye blessed of My Father; 
for I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; 
I was thirsty, and you gave Me to drink; 
I was a stranger, and you took Me in; 
sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, 
and you came to Me."^ 

XV LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 

^ Matt., XXV, 34-36. 



36 Thoughts of Sceur Therese 



I 



F I were still to live, the office of 
Infirmarian is the one which would please 
me most. I would not ask for it, but if 
it came direct by obedience I should think 
myself highly privileged. It seems to 
me that I would discharge its duties with 
a tender love, thinking always of our 
Saviour saying: *'/ was sick and you 
visited me."^ The Infirmary bell should 
be for you as Heavenly music. You 
ought purposely to pass along beneath 
the windows of the sick to give them 
facihty in calhng you and asking your 
services. Ought you not to consider 
yourself like a little slave whom every- 
one has a right to command? If you 
could but see the Angels who from the 
heights of Heaven watch you batthng 
in the arena! They await the end of 
the combat to cover you with flowers and 
wreaths. The good God does not disdain 
these combats, unknown and therefore 
all the more meritorious. *' The patient 
man is better than the valiant, and he 

1 Matt., XXV, 36. 



Love of Our Neighbour 37 

that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh 
cities.'' ^ 

By our little acts of charity practised 
in the shade we convert souls far away, 
we help missionaries, we win for them 
abundant alms; and by that means build 
actual dwelHngs spiritual and material 
for our Eucharistic Lord. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



A 



. NOVICE remarked to Soeur Therese: 
"I do not hke to see others suffer, es- 
pecially saintly souls." She rephed in- 
stantly: 

*'0h! I am not Hke you: to see saints 
suffer never moves me to pity! I know 
they have the strength to endure, and 
they thus give great glory to God: but 
those who are not holy, who know not 
how to profit by their sufferings, oh! how 
I pity them; they do indeed arouse my 
compassion, and I would do all I could 
to comfort and help them." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

^ Prov., xvi, 32. 



38 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 



Si 



SEEING her extreme weakness the 
doctor ordered some strengthening 
remedies; Soeur Therese was distressed 
at first on account of their high price: 
then she said to us: *'I am no longer' 
grieved about taking these costly 
remedies, for I have been reading that 
St. Gertrude rejoiced at the thought 
that all would be to the advantage of 
those who do us good, since our Lord 
has said: ^'As long as you did it unto one 
of these My least brethren you did it unto 
Mer 1 

She added: **I am convinced of the 
uselessness of medicine for the purpose 
of curing me, but I have made a compact 
with the good God, that He is to allow 
some poor Missionaries to profit by it, 
who have neither time nor means to take 
care of themselves." 

HIST. D*UNE AME, CH. XII 



Ri 



LEMEMBERING that Charity covereth 
a multitude of sins,^ I draw from this 
fruitful mine opened to us by our Lord in 
1 Matt., XXV, 40. 2 Prov., x, 12. 



Love of Our Neighbour 39 

His sacred Gospels. I search the depths 
of His adorable words and cry out with 
David: "/ have run in the way of Thy 
commandments when Thou didst enlarge 
my heart,'* ^ And charity alone can 
enlarge my heart. . . 

O Jesus! since this sweet flame con- 
sumes it I run with dehght in the way of 
Thy new Commandment, and therein 
will I run until the blessed day when 
with Thy Virgin train I shall follow 
Thee through Thy boundless Realm 
singing Thy New Canticle which must 
surely be the Canticle of Love. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 

1 Ps., cxviii, 32. 




FAITH 



w. 



HAT helps me most when I pic- 
ture to myself the interior of the Holy 
Family is to think of a quite ordinary 
Hfe. 

The Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph 
knew well that Jesus was God, but 
wondrous things were nevertheless hidden 
from them and hke us they Hved by 
faith. Have you not noticed what is 
said in the sacred text: ''And they under- 
stood not the word that He spoke unto 
them," 1 and these other words no less 
mysterious: ''His father and mother were 
wondering at those things which were 
spoken concerning Him?'"^ Does not 
this imply that they heard of something 
1 Luke, ii, 50. ^ Luke, ii, 33. 



Faith 41 

new to them, for this wondering suggests 
a certain astonishment? 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



D, 



'URING her temptations against faith 
she wrote: '*I strive to work by faith 
though bereft of its consolations. I 
have made more acts of Faith in this 
last year than during all the rest of my 
Hfe. 

*'0n each fresh occasion of combat, 
when the enemy desires to challenge me, 
I conduct myself vahantly: knowing 
that to fight a duel is an unworthy act, 
I turn my back upon the adversary with- 
out ever looking him in the face; then 
I run to my Jesus and tell Him I am ready 
to shed every drop of blood in testimony 
of my behef that there is a Heaven, I 
tell Him I am glad to be unable to con- 
template, while on earth, with the eyes 
of the soul, the beautiful Heaven that 
awaits me so He will deign to open it for 
eternity to poor unbehevers." 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 



42 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



Hi 



LE whose Heart ever watcheth, taught 
me, that while for a soul whose faith 
equals but a tiny grain of mustard seed, 
he works miracles, in order that this 
faith which is so weak may be fortified; 
yet for His intimate friends, for His 
Mother, He did not work miracles until 
He had put their faith to the test. Did 
He not let Lazarus die though Martha 
and Mary had sent to tell Him that he 
was sick? At the marriage at Cana, 
the Blessed Virgin having asked Him to 
come to the assistance of the Master of 
the house, did He not reply that His 
hour was not yet come? But after the 
trial, what a recompense ! Water changed 
to wine, Lazarus restored to hfe. . . 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. VI 



A 



SISTER said to her that beautiful 
Angels clothed in white robes, and of 
joyous and resplendent countenance, 
would bear away her soul to Heaven. 
She rephed: "These imaginations do 
not help me: I can draw no sustenance 



Faith 43 

except from the Truth. God and the 
Angels are pure Spirits, no one can see 
them as they really are, with corporal 
eyes. That is why I have never desired 
extraordinary favours. I would rather 
await the Eternal Vision." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



I 



HAVE asked God to send me a beauti- 
ful dream to console me when you are 
gone," said a novice. 

*'Ah! that is a thing I should never 
do — ask for consolation ! . . . Since you 
wish to be hke me you well know that I 
say: 

Oh! fear not, Lord, that I shall waken Thee: 
I await in peace th' eternal shore. . . 

** It is SO sweet to serve the good God in 
the dark night of trial; we have this 
hfe only in which to Hve by faith." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 




HOPE 

X IME is but a shadow, a dream; 
already God sees us in glory and takes 
joy in our eternal beatitude. How this 
thought helps my soul! I understand 
then why He lets us suffer. . . 

VIII LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



A 



DAY. . . an hour. . . and we shall 
have reached the port! My God, what 
shall we see then? What is that hfe 
which will never have an end? . . . Jesus 
will be the soul of our soul. Unfathom- 
able mystery! ''Eye hath not seen, nor 
ear heard, neither hath it entered into the 
heart oj man what great things God hath 
prepared for them that love Him," ^ And 
^ I Cor., ii, 9. CJ, Is., Ixiv, 4. 



Hope 45 

this will all come soon — yes, very soon, 
if we ardently love Jesus. 

VI LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 

I j TFF is passing, Eternity draws nigh; 
soon shall we hve the very hfe of God. 
After having drunk deep at the fount of 
bitterness, our thirst will be quenched at 
the very source of all sweetness. 

Yes, the figure of this world passeth 
away,^ soon shall we see new heavens; 
a more radiant sun will brighten with its 
splendours ethereal seas and infinite 
horizons. . . We shall no longer be 
prisoners in a land of exile, all will be at 
an end and with our Heavenly Spouse 
we shall sail o'er boundless waters: now 
our harps are hung upon the willows that 
border the rivers of Babylon,^ but in the 
day of our dehverance what harmonies 
will then be heard! With what joy shall 
we not make every chord of our instru- 
ments to vibrate! Today, we weep re- 
membering Sion . . . how shall we sing 

1 I Cor., vii, 31. ^ Cf, Ps. cxxxvi, 2. 



46 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

the songs of the Lord in a strange 
land? 



V LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



He 



LOW I thirst for Heaven — that 
blessed habitation where our love for 
Jesus will have no hmit! But to get 
there we must suffer. . . we must weep 
. . . Well, I wish to suffer all that shall 
please my Beloved, I wish to let Him do 
just as He wills with His ''little ball'' 

V LETTER TO SR. MARIE DU SACRE-CCEUR 



0. 



'H! What mysteries will be revealed 
to us later. . . How often have I thought 
that I perhaps owe all the graces showered 
upon me to the earnest prayer of a httle 
soul whom I shall know only in Heaven. 
It is God's will that in this world by 
means of prayer Heavenly treasures 
should be imparted by souls one to 
another, so that when they reach the 
Fatherland they may love one another 
with a love born of gratitude, with an 
affection far, far exceeding the most ideal 
family affection upon earth. 

1 CJ. Ps., cxxxvi, I, 4. 



Hope 47 

There, we shall meet with no indiffer- 
ent looks, because all the Saints will be 
indebted to each other. 

No envious glances will be seen; the 
happiness of every one of the elect will 
be the happiness of all. With the 
Martyrs we shall be hke to the Martyrs; 
with the Doctors we shall be as the 
Doctors; with the Virgins, as the Virgins; 
and just as the members of a family are 
proud of one another, so shall we be 
of our brethren, without the least 
jealousy. 

Who knows even if the joy we shall 
experience in beholding the glory of the 
great Saints, and knowing that by a 
secret dispensation of Providence we 
have contributed thereunto, who knows 
if this joy will not be as intense and 
sweeter perhaps, than the happiness they 
will themselves possess. 

And do you not think that on their 
side the great Saints, seeing what they 
owe to quite Httle souls, will love them 
with an incomparable love? Dehghtful 
and surprising will be the friendships 



48 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

found there — I am sure of it. The 
favoured companion of an Apostle or a 
great Doctor of the Church, will perhaps 
be a young shepherd lad; and a simple 
little child may be the intimate friend of 
a Patriarch. Oh! how I long to dwell 
in that Kingdom of Love. . . 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



A 



SISTER showed her a photograph 
representing Joan of Arc consoled in the 
prison by her Voices. Soeur Therese said : 
''I too am consoled by an interior voice. 
The Saints encourage me from above, 
they say to me: *So long as thou art in 
fetters thou canst not fulfil thy mission; 
but later, after thy death — then will be 
the time of thy conquests.'" 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



I 



N Heaven the good God will do all I 
wish, because I have never done my own 
will upon earth. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Hope 49 



B 



jVEN now I know it; yes, all my 
hopes will be fulfilled . . . yes . . . the 
Lord will work wonders for me which 
will surpass infinitely my immeasurable 
desires. 

VIII LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 




I 



HUMILITY 



T appears to me that humility is the 
truth. I know not whether I am 
humble, but I know that I see the truth 
in all things. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



I 



HAVE understood what true glory is. 
He whose Kingdom is not oj this world ^ 
showed me that the only enviable royalty, 
consists in loving to be unknown and 
esteemed as nothing,^ and finding our joy 
in contempt of self. I wished that hke 
the Face of Jesus, mine might be as it 
were hidden and despised, ^ That none 
upon earth might esteem me, I thirsted 
to suffer and to be forgotten. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. VII 

^ John, xviii, 36. ^ Jmit,, I, ii, 3. 

3 Is., Ifii, 3. 



Humility 5 1 



J 



ESUS made me understand that the 
true, the only glory is that which will 
last for ever; that to attain to it we 
need not perform wonderful deeds, but 
rather, those hidden from the eyes of 
others and from self, so that the left hand 
knoweth not what the right hand doth} 

HIST. D*UNE AME, CH. IV 

X HERESE is weak, very weak; of this 
she has new and salutary experience 
every day. But Jesus takes pleasure in 
teaching her how to glory in her infirm- 
ities? It is a great grace this, for herein 
is found peace and tranquilhty. When 
we see ourselves so miserable, we wish 
no longer to look at self but only on the 
Well-Beloved. 



II LETTER TO HER COUSIN MARIE GUERIN 



I 



AM a very little soul who can offer 
only very little things to the good God; 
yet, it often happens that these Httle 
sacrifices which give such peace to the 

1 Matt., vi, 3. 2 II Cor., xi, 5. 



52 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

heart, escape me; but that does not 
discourage me, I bear with having a 
Httle less peace and I try to be more 
watchful another time. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. X 



Ve 



EILED in the white Host, O my 
Well-Beloved, how meek and humble 
of heart dost Thou show Thyself to me! 
Thou couldst not stoop lower to teach 
me humihty, and I, to respond to Thy 
Love, desire to put myself in the lowest 
place and share Thy humihations, that 
I may have part with Thee ^ in the King- 
dom of Heaven. 

I beseech Thee, my Jesus, to send me 
some humihation every time that I 
shall attempt to put myself above others. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, APPENDIX 



Wb 



HAT pleases the good God in my 
little soul is to see me love my httleness 
and my poverty, it is seeing the bhnd 
trust that I have in His Mercy. 

VI LETTER TO SR. MARIE DU SACRE-CCEUR 

^ John, xiii, 8. 



Humility 53 



Tc 



O draw near to Jesus we must be so 
little. . . Oh! how few souls aspire to be 
Httle and unknown. . . 



XIV LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



I 



AM no longer surprised at anything, 
nor do I grieve at seeing that I am frailty 
itself; on the contrary I glory in it, and 
expect to discover new imperfections in 
myself each day. These hghts concern- 
ing my nothingness do me more good, I 
affirm, than hghts regarding faith. 



HIST D UNE AME, CH. IX 



w. 



HEN we commit a fault we must not 
think it due to a physical cause, such as 
illness or the weather, we must attribute 
this fall to our imperfection, but without 
ever growing discouraged. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



s 



INCE Jesus has gone back to Heaven 
I can follow Him only by the path He 
has traced. Oh how luminous are His 



54 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

footprints — diffusing a divine sweet- 
ness. . . I have but to glance at the 
holy Gospels and immediately I inhale 
the fragrance of the Hfe of Jesus, and I 
know which side to take. Not to the 
first place do I run but to the last. I 
let the Pharisee go up, and full of confi- 
dence I repeat the humble prayer of the 
pubhcan. Above all I copy the example 
of Magdalene; her amazing, or rather, 
her loving audacity, which so touched 
the Heart of Jesus, charms my own. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XI 



w. 



ITH a simphcity that dehghts me 
my httle Sisters, the novices, tell me of 
the interior combats I arouse in them, 
in what way they find me trying; they 
are no more embarrassed than if it were 
question of some one else, knowing that 
by acting thus, they greatly please me. 

Ah! truly it is more than a pleasure, 
it is a dehcious feast which replenishes 
my soul with joy. How can a thing so 
disagreeable to nature give such happi- 



Humility S5 

ness? Had I not experienced it I could 
not have believed it. 

One day when I had an ardent desire 
for humihation, it happened that a 
young postulant so fully satisfied it, 
that the thought of Semei cursing David 
came to my mind and I repeated interiorly 
with the holy King: Yes, it is indeed the 
Lord who has commanded him to say all 
these things to me.^ 

Thus the good God takes care of me. 
He cannot always offer me the strength- 
giving bread of exterior humihation, but 
from time to time He permits me to 
feast upon the crumbs that fall from the 
table of the children,^ How great is His 
Mercy! 



A. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. X 



XL creatures might inchne towards 
the little flower, admiring it and over- 
whelming it with their praise, but never 
would that add a shadow of vain satis- 
faction to the true joy of knowing itself 
to be a mere nothing in the sight of God. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 

^ Kings, xvi, lo. ^ Mark, vii, 28. 



56 Thoughts oj Sceur Therese 



B. 



BECAUSE I was little and weak, 
Jesus stooped down to me and tenderly 
instructed me in the secrets of His Love. 



I 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. V 



AM too little to have any vanity, I 
am also too little to know how to turn 
beautiful phrases so as to make it appear 
that I have a great deal of humihty. 
I prefer to acknowledge simply that 
He that is mighty hath done great things 
to me; ^ and the greatest is His having 
shown me my Httleness, my powerless- 
ness for all good. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 

X HE only thing not subject to be 
envied is the lowest place, it is therefore 
this lowest place alone which is without 
vanity and affliction of spirit. Still, the 
way of a man is not always in his power ^ 
and sometimes we are surprised by a 
desire for that which glitters. Then, let 
us take our place humbly amongst the 
1 Luke, i, 49. 2 Q^ jej-^^ X, 23. 



Humility §y 

imperfect, deeming ourselves little souls 
whom the good God must sustain at 
each moment. As soon as He sees us 
truly convinced of our nothingness and 
we say to Him: My foot hath slipped: 
Thy mercy, Lord, hath held me up,^ 
He stretches out His Hand to us; but 
if we will attempt to do something 
grand, even under pretext of zeal. He 
leaves us alone. It is enough therefore 
that we humble ourselves, and bear our 
imperfections with sweetness: there, for 
us, Hes true sanctity. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

jL he most eloquent discourses would 
be incapable of inspiring one act of 
love without the grace that moves the 
heart. 

See a beautiful, rose-tinted peach, of 
so sweet a savour that no craft of con- 
fectioner could produce nectar hke it. 
Is it for the peach itself that God has 
created this lovely colour and dehcate 
velvety surface? Is it for the sake of 

1 C/. Ps., xciif, 1 8. 



58 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

the peach that He has given it so dehcious 
a flavour? No, it is for us; what alone 
belongs to it and forms the essence of its 
existence is its stone; it possesses nothing 
more. 

Thus is Jesus pleased to lavish His gifts 
on some of His creatures, that through 
them He may draw to Himself other 
souls; but in His mercy He humihates 
them interiorly, and gently constrains 
them to recognize their nothingness and 
His Omnipotence. These sentiments 
form in them, as it were, a kernel of 
grace, which Jesus hastens to develop 
for that blessed day when clothed with 
a beauty, immortal, imperishable, they 
shall without danger have place at the 
Celestial banquet. 



XVI LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



T. 



HE Apostles, without Jesus, laboured 
long — a whole night — without taking 
any fish; their toil was pleasing to Him 
but He wished to show that He alone 
can give anything. He asked only an 
act of humihty: ''Children, have you any 



Humility 59 

meat?'' ^ and St. Peter confesses his 
helplessness: ''Lord we have laboured all 
night and have taken nothing.'' ^ It is 
enough! The Heart of Jesus is touched. 
. . . Perhaps if the Apostle had taken a 
few httle fishes the Divine Master would 
not have worked a miracle; but he had 
nothing, and so through God's power and 
goodness his nets were soon filled with 
great fishes. 

That IS just our Lord's way. He gives 
as God, but He will have humihty of 
heart. 

XVII LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 

X O think ourselves imperfect, and 
others perfect — that is happiness. That 
creatures should recognize we are with- 
out virtue takes nothing from us, makes 
us no poorer; it is they who by this lose 
interior joy; for there is nothing sweeter 
than to think well of our neighbour. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



I 



T is a great joy to me, not only when 
others find me imperfect, but above all 
^ John, xxi, 5. 2 Luke, v, 5. 



6o Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

when I feel that so I am: comphments, 
on the contrary, cause me nothing but 
* displeasure. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



A 



NOVICE confided to her that she 
made no progress and felt quite dis- 
couraged. 

''Till the age of fourteen," said Therese, 
**I practised virtue without feehng its 
sweetness. I wished for suffering but 
had no thought of finding my joy therein; 
that is a grace which has been granted 
me later. My soul was Hke a beautiful 
tree whose blossoms no sooner opened 
than they fell. 

** Offer to the good God the sacrifice 
of never gathering the fruits of your 
labours. If He so will that during your 
whole hfe you feel a repugnance to 
suffer and to be humihated, if He permit 
that all the flowers of your desires and of 
your good-will fall to earth without 
fruit, , be not troubled. At the moment 
of your death He will know well how to 
bring to perfection, in the twinkhng of 



Humility 6i 

an eye, beautiful fruits on the tree of 
your soul. 

** We read in the Book of Ecclesiasticus: 
'There is an inactive man that wanteth 
help, is very weak in ability, and full of 
poverty: yet the eye of God hath looked 
upon him for good, and hath lifted him up 
from his low estate, and hath exalted his 
head: and many have wondered at him and 
have glorified God, 

'Trust in God, and stay in thy place. 
For it is easy in the eyes of God, on a 
sudden to make the poor man rich. The 
blessing of God maketh haste to reward 
the just, and in a swift hour His blessing 
beareth fruit!"' ^ 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Yc 



OU have always been faithful to 
divine grace, have you not?" 

*'Yes, since the age of three I have 
refused nothing to the good God. Yet 
not mine the glory. See how the setting 
sun this evening gilds the topmost 
branches of the trees; even so does my 

^ Ecclus., xi, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24. 



62 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

soul appear to you — all bright and 
gilded, because it is exposed to Love's 
rays. If the Divine Sun withheld from 
me His rays, my soul would immediately 
become obscured and enveloped in dark- 
ness." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Y( 



OU really are a saint!" some one said 
to her. 

*'No, I am not a saint; I have never 
done the works of the Saints. I am a 
very, very httle soul on whom the good 
God has outpoured the abundance of 
His grace. You will see in Heaven that 
I am telHng you the truth." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



s 



HE said to the Prioress: ** Mother, I 
feel that if I were unfaithful, if I com- 
mitted but the very shghtest infidelity, 
fearful troubles would follow, and I 
could no longer accept death with resigna- 
tion. 

And as the Mother Prioress showed 
surprise at hearing her speak thus, she 
continued: 



Humility 63 

"I mean an infidelity springing from 
pride. For instance, if I said: 'I have 
acquired such or such a virtue, I am able 
to practise it,' or, 'O my God, I love 
Thee too well — Thou knowest it — 
to dwell on one single thought against 
faith,' I feel that I should forthwith be 
assailed by the most dangerous tempta- 
tions and should certainly be overcome 
by them. 

**To avoid this calamity I have but to 
say humbly from the depths of my 
heart: 'O my God, I implore of Thee, 
suffer me not to be unfaithful!' 

**I very well understand how St. 
Peter fell. He depended too confidently 
on the fervour of his feehngs, instead of 
relying solely upon Divine strength. 
Had he said to Jesus: *Lord, give me 
the strength to follow Thee even unto 
death,' that strength, I am quite sure 
would not have been refused him." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



0. 



"H! when I think of all I have to 
acquire!" exclaimed a novice. 



64 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

"Say, rather, to lose. Jesus, it is, 
who charges Himself with the care of 
fining your soul according as you free 
it from its imperfections. I plainly see 
that you are taking the wrong road, 
you will never arrive at the end of your 
journey. You wish to scale a mountain 
and the good God wants to make you 
descend: He is waiting for you low 
down in the fertile valley of humihty." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



w> 



HEN I receive a reproof," said 
another, **I would rather have deserved 
it than be wrongfully accused." 

"As for me," rephed Therese, "I prefer 
being blamed unjustly, then I have no 
cause for self-reproach and I offer this 
unmerited blame to the good God with 
joy, then I humble myself at the thought 
that I should be quite capable of doing 
that of which I was accused." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



w> 



HEN we are not understood, and 
are unfavourably judged, what good is 



Humility 6^ 

there in defending ourselves? Let us 
leave it so and say nothing, it is so 
sweet to let ourselves be judged no 
matter how! It is not told in the Gospels 
that Saint Magdalen gave any explana- 
tion when blamed by her sister for 
sitting inactive at the feet of Jesus. She 
did not say: "Martha, if thou didst but 
know my happiness, if thou didst but 
hear the words I hear, thou too wouldst 
lay all else aside, to share my joy and my 
repose." No, ihe chose rather to be 
silent. . . O blessed silence which gives 
to the soul such peace! 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



I 



N a moment of temptation and combat 
a novice received this note: 

'' The just man shall correct me in mercy 
and reprove me; but let not the oil of the 
sinner anoint my head} I cannot be 
corrected or tried except by the just, 
inasmuch as all my Sisters are pleasing 
to God. It is less bitter to be reproved 
by a sinner than by the just; but through 

1 Ps., cxI, 5. 



66 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

compassion for sinners, to obtain their 
conversion, I pray Thee, O my God, 
that I may be bruised by the just souls 
who are round about me. Again, I beg 
that the oil of praise, so sweet to nature, 
anoint not my head, that is to say, enervate 
not my mind, by making me beheve that 
I possess virtues which I have only with 
difficulty practised several times. 

*'0 my Jesus! Thy Name is as oil poured 
out; ^ it is in this divine perfume that I 
wish to be wholly bathed, far away from 
the notice of creatures." 



An 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



lT the close of her hfe she was able 
to say: ''I used so to rise above all 
things, that I drew strength from humih- 
ations." 



Gc 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



rOD has a special love for you," 
remarked a young Sister, ** since to you 
He entrusts other souls." 

''That does not add anything to me, 
and I am only really just what I am in 
^ Cant., I, 2. 



Humility 67 

God's sight. . . It does not follow that 
He loves me more, because He wills that 
I should be His interpreter to you; 
rather, He makes me your httle servant. 
It is for you and not for me that He has 
given me the charms and virtues apparent 
to you. 

'* Often I compare myself to a httle 
bowl which God fills with good things of 
every kind. All the kittens come to it to 
take their share, and sometimes there is 
a contest as to which shall have most. 
But the Child Jesus is there, keeping 
watch: *I am very willing that you 
drink from my little bowl' saith He, 
*but take care lest you overturn it and 
break it.' 

*' Truth to tell, the danger is not great, 
because I am placed on the ground. 
It is otherwise with Prioresses: they, 
being set on tables run many more risks. 
Honours are always dangerous. 

"Oh! how poisonous the praises served 
up day by day to those who hold high 
places. What baneful incense! And 
how necessary it is that the soul be 



68 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

detached from self, that so she may 
escape unharmed.' ' 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



JL O help a novice to accept a humili- 
ation she said to her in confidence: 
*'If I had not been received into Carmel 
I would have entered a Refuge, to hve 
there unknown and despised in the 
midst of the poor penitents. To pass 
for such in the eyes of all would have 
been my happiness. I should have been 
the apostle of my companions telhng 
them what I think of the Mercy of the 
good God." 

'*But how would you have been able 
to hide your innocence from your Con- 
fessor?" 

''I would have told him that while in 
the world I had made a general confession 
and had been forbidden to do so again." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



0, 



"NE day they brought her some ears 
of corn. She took one so laden with 



Humility 69 

grain that it leaned down upon its stalk, 
and having looked at it for a long time 
she said to the Mother Prioress: 

*' Mother, this ear of corn is an image 
of my soul: the good God has laden me 
with graces for myself and for many 
others! . . . Oh! I wish ever to bow 
down beneath the abundance of Heaven's 
gifts, recognizing that all comes from 
above." 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



W. 



HAT do you think of all the graces 
which have been poured down upon 
you? 

** I think that the Spirit of God breatheth 
where He will." ^ 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



A 



SISTER said that in Heaven she 
would be a beautiful flower, resplendent 
with Hght. 

**0h no," she rephed, **you know how 
in pretty bouquets they conceal some 
moss to make the flowers stand out; 
^ John, iii, 8. 



70 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 

well, I shall be a little bit of moss to set 
off the beauty of the elect." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



D, 



"URING her last agony the Mother 
Prioress encouraged her with these words: 

''My child, you are quite ready to 
appear before God because you have al- 
ways understood the virtue of humihty." 

Then of herself she gave this beautiful 
testimony : 

*'Yes, I feel it, my soul has never 
sought but the truth. . . yes, I have 
understood humihty of heart!" 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 




I 



DETACHMENT 



F the impossible were possible and 
that God Himself did not see my good 
actions, I would not grieve about it. 
I love Him so much that I should hke 
to be able to give Him pleasure without 
His knowing that it was I. . . Knowing 
and seeing it, He is, in a way, bound to 
repay me. . . I would not give Him the 
trouble. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



X HE glory of Jesus . . . that is my 
whole ambition; my own I abandon to 
Him; and if He seem to forget me, well. 
He is at Hberty to do so since I am mine 
no more, but His. He will more quickly 
tire of making me wait, than I, of waiting! 

VII LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 



72 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

_L HERE is no stay, no support to seek 
out of Jesus. He alone changeth not. 
What happiness to think that He can 
never change! 

V LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 



T. 



HE sole happiness upon earth con- 
sists in hiding oneself and remaining in 
total ignorance of created things. ■ 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. VIII 1 

J? AR from dazzhng me all the titles of 
nobihty appear to me but empty vanity. 
I have understood those words of the 
Imitation: ''Be not solicitous for the 
shadow of a great name,'' ^ I have under- 
stood that true greatness is found not in 
the name but in the soul. 

The Prophet tells us that the Lord God 
shall call His servants by another name; ^ 
and we read in St. John: ''To him that 
overcomethy I will give ... a white counter, 
and in the counter anew name written, which 
no man knoweth but he that receiveth'' ^ 

^ Imit.y III, xxiv, 2. 2 is^ j^v, 15. 

^ Apoc, ii, 17. 



Detachment 73 

It is in Heaven, therefore, that we shall 
know our titles of nobiUty. Then shall 
each one receive from God the praise that 
he merits,^ and he who upon earth will 
have made choice of being the poorest 
and the most unknown for love of our 
Lord, he will be the first, the noblest and 
the richest. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. VI 



I 



THANK my Jesus for making me 
walk in darkness; in it I am wrapped in 
profound peace. Wilhngly I consent 
to stay, during the whole of my rehgious 
hfe, in this sombre tunnel into which He 
has made me enter; I desire only that 
my darkness may win hght for sinners. 

IV LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 



I 



N this world we must not become 
attached to anything — not even things 
the most innocent, for they fail us at the 
moment when we are least expecting it. 
The eternal alone can satisfy us. 

I LETTER TO SR. MARIE DU SACRE-CCEUR 

1 CJ. I Cor., iv,,5. 



74 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



T. 



HIS prayer she bore upon her heart 
on the day of her Profession : 

**0 Jesus, my Divine Spouse, grant 
that the robe of my baptism be never 
suHied ! Take me, rather than suffer 
me here below to stain my soul by com- 
mitting the shghtest wilful fault. May 
I never seek nor ever find but Thee 
alone! May all creatures be nothing 
to me, and I nothing to them! May no 
earthly thing disturb my peace! 

** Grant that I fulfil my engagements 
in all their perfection; that none concern 
themselves about me; that I may be 
trodden underfoot, forgotten, as a Httle 
grain of sand. I off^er myself to Thee, 
O Well-Beloved, that Thou mayst ever 
perfectly accompHsh Thy holy will in 
me, without let or hindrance from 
creatures." 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. VIII 



Wi 



ITH jealous care all must be kept 
for Jesus; it is so good to work for Him, 



Detachment 75 

and for Him alone! How joyous then 
the heart and how buoyant the spirit! . . . 

VI LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 



I 



HAVE never wished for human glory, 
contempt it was, that had attraction for 
my heart; but having recognized that 
this again was too glorious for me, I 
ardently desire to be forgotten. 

VII LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 



I 



F you only knew to what a degree I 
wish to be indifferent to the things of 
the earth! What matters to me all 
created beauty? I should be truly un- 
fortunate were I to possess it. Oh! how 
great, how noble, seems my heart when 
I look at it in relation * to this world's 
goods, since all of them put together 
could never satisfy it; but when I con- 
sider it with reference to Jesus, how 
small it then appears to me. 

II LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 



Y. 



ES, I now am able to say I have 
received the grace of being no more 



76 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

attached to the goods of mind and heart 
than to those of earth. If it happens 
that I repeat to my Sisters some thought 
of mine which pleases them, I think it 
quite natural that they should look on 
it as their own; this thought belongs to 
the Holy Ghost not to me, seeing that 
St. Paul tells us that without the Spirit oj 
Love we cannot give to God the name oj 
Father.^ The Holy Spirit assuredly is 
free to use me as the means of conveying 
a good thought to a soul and I may not 
consider this thought as my property. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. X 

X HERE is one only means of con- 
straining the good God not to judge us 
at all, it is to appear before Him with 
our hands empty." 

''But how?" they asked her. 

"It is quite simple: keep nothing 
whatever in reserve, give away your 
gains according as you earn. As for me, 
if I hve to be eighty I shall be always 
poor; I know not how to save up, all 
^ C/. Rom., viii, 15. 



Detachment 77 

that I have goes immediately to ransom 
souls." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

X HE further you advance the fewer 
combats will you have, or rather, the 
easier will your conquests be, because 
you will look at the good side of things. 
Your soul will then rise above creatures. 
Anything that may be said to me now, 
leaves me absolutely indifferent, for I 
have reahzed how httle stabihty there is 
in human judgments. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

X O write books of devotion, to com- 
pose the most subhme poetry, is of less 
worth than the least act of self-renun- 
ciation. 



0. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



^NE Sunday," Ther^se tells us, "I 
went right joyously on my way towards 
the alley of chestnut trees; it was the 
spring-time, and I meant to enjoy the 
beauties of nature. O cruel disappoint- 
ment! My dear chestnut trees had 
been pruned, and the branches, already 



78 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

loaded with verdant buds, lay strewn 
upon the ground! It was heartrending 
to view this destruction, and to think that 
three years must pass ere I could see it 
repaired. . . My distress however did 
not last. *If I were in another monas- 
tery,' thought I, 'what difference would 
it make to me if the chestnut trees in 
the Carmel of Lisieux were cut down 
altogether? I will fret no more about 
transitory things; my Well-Beloved shall 
take the place of all else for me. . . I 
will wander ever in the groves of His 
love, which none may touch!'" 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



s 



HE said to her novices: *'You are too 
much taken up about what you are 
doing, you torment yourselves concern- 
ing the future as if you had the care of 
it. . . Are you at this moment pre- 
occupied with what is passing in other 
Carmels, as to whether the nuns are 
pressed or not? Do their labours hinder 
your prayer or meditation? Very well, 
so, too, ought you to be detached from 



Detachment 79 

your personal work, employing conscien- 
tiously therein the time directed, but 
with disengagement of heart. 

**I have read that the Israehtes, when 
building the walls of Jerusalem, worked 
with one hand and with the other held 
a sword. ^ That is truly a figure of what 
we ought to do: never give ourselves 
completely up to the work." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



A 



NOVICE asked some of the Sisters 
to help to shake blankets, which being 
rather worn, she cautioned them some- 
what sharply to be careful not to tear. 
Soeur Therese remarked: 

**What would you do if it were not 
your office to mend these blankets? . . . 
With what detachment you would then 
act! And if you did point out that they 
are easily torn, how free from self- 
interest it would be. Thus, never let 
the least shadow of self-interest ghde 
into your actions." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

^11 Esdras, iv, 17. 



8o Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 



I 



N the infirmary the novices used 
scarcely to wait till her thanksgivings 
were ended before speaking to her and 
seeking her counsels. This, at first, 
grieved her and she gently reproached 
them. Then very soon she let them 
have their way, saying: 

*'The thought has struck me that I 
am not to desire more of repose than our 
Lord. When He retired into the desert 
after His discourses, the people came 
immediately to break in upon His soli- 
tude. Come to me as much as you will. 
I must die arms in hand, having on my 
lips the sword of the Spirit which is the 
Word of Godr 1 



He 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Low do you manage so to practise 
virtue," asked a novice, "as to be always 
the same, invariably joyous and com- 
posed?" 

"It has not been always so," she 
repHed, "but ever since I have shunned 

^ Ephes., vi, 17. 



Detachment 8i 

all self-seeking I lead the happiest life 
that can be." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Nc 



I OW, that I am about to appear 
before the good God, more than ever do 
I understand that there is but one 
thing necessary: to work solely for Him, 
and to do nothing for self or for creatures. 

X LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY ** BROTHERS*' 




MORTIFICATION 



R 



AR from being like to those great 
souls who from their childhood practise 
all sorts of macerations, I made my 
mortification consist solely in the break- 
ing of my will, restraining a hasty word, 
rendering httle services to those around 
me without making anything of it, and 
a thousand other things of this kind. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. VI 



As 



^S I had no taste for games, I should 
have hked to spend my hfe reading, but 
I was only to take a very Hmited time 
for this chosen recreation, and this was 
the ground of many a sacrifice, for I 
made it a point of duty to break off 
promptly at the end of the time allotted. 



Mortification 83 

even in the middle of the most interesting 
passage. 

^ ^ HIST* D UNE AME, CH. IV 



I 



HAD accustomed myself never to 
complain when anything of mine was 
taken away; and when unjustly blamed 
I chose rather to remain silent than to 
defend myself. 



I 



HIST. D UNE, AME, CH. I 



WAS ten years old the day that my 
Father told Cehne he was going to let 
her have lessons in painting; I was by, 
and envied her. Then Papa said to 
me: *'And you, my httle queen, would 
it give you pleasure too to learn draw- 
ing?" I was just going to respond with 
a very gladsome yes, when Marie made 
the remark that I had not the same taste 
for it as Cehne. At once she gained the 
day; and I, thinking that here was a 
good opportunity of offering a grand 
sacrifice to Jesus, said not a word. So 
eager was my desire to learn drawing 
that now I still wonder how I had the 
fortitude to remain silent. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. VIII 



84 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



I 



N the world, on awakening in the 
morning I used to think over what would 
probably occur either pleasing or vexa- 
tious during the day; and if I foresaw 
only trying events I arose dispirited. 
Now it is quite the other way: I think of 
the difficulties and the sufferings that 
await me, and I rise the more joyous and 
full of courage the more I foresee oppor- 
tunities of proving my love for Jesus, and 
earning the living of my children — seeing 
that I am the mother of souls. Then I 
kiss my crucifix and lay it tenderly on 
the pillow while I dress, and I say to 
Him: ''My Jesus, Thou hast worked 
enough and wept enough during the 
three-and-thirty years of Thy Hfe on 
this poor earth. Take now Thy rest. . , 
My turn it is to suffer and to fight." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



T. 



HE attraction to penance was given 
me, but I was permitted nothing to 
satisfy it. The only mortifications I 
was allowed consisted in mortifying self- 



Mortification 85 

love, which did me more good than 
corporal penance. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. VII 



An 



^T prayer I was for a long time near a 
Sister who used to handle incessantly 
either her Rosary-beads or some other 
thing; perhaps none heard it but myself, 
for my hearing is extremely acute, but 
I cannot say how it tormented me! I 
should have hked to turn my head and 
look at the culprit so as to make her 
stop that noise: however in my heart 
I knew it was better to bear it patiently, 
for the love of God in the first place, 
and also to avoid giving pain. 

I kept quiet therefore, but was some- 
times worked up to fever-heat and 
obhged to make simply a prayer of en- 
durance. Finally I sought out the means 
of suffering with peace and joy, at least 
in my innermost soul; I tried to hke 
the teasing httle noise. Instead of en- 
deavouring not to hear it — a thing 
impossible — I hstened with fixed atten- 
tion as if it had been a dehghtful concert; 

J 



86 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

and my prayer, which was not the prayer 
oj quiet, passed in offering this concert to 
Jesus. 

Another time I was in the laundry 
opposite a Sister who while washing hand- 
kerchiefs splashed me every minute with 
dirty water. My first impulse was to 
draw back and wipe my face, so as to 
show her who besprinkled me in that 
fashion, that she would obhge me by 
working more quietly; but I reflected 
immediately that it was very foohsh to 
refuse treasures so generously offered 
me, and I took good care not to show my 
annoyance. On the contrary, I made 
such successful efforts to wish for a 
plentiful splashing of dirty water, that 
at the end of half an hour I had really 
acquired a taste for this new sort of 
aspersion, and I determined to come 
again as often as possible to a place where 
happily such riches could be had gratui- 
tously. 



I 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. X 



REMEMBER that sometimes, when 
a postulant, I was so violently tempted 



Mortification 87 

to indulge myself by seeking some little 
consolations, that I was obliged to go 
quickly past our Mother's cell, and chng 
to the banisters of the staircase so that I 
should not turn back. There would 
come to mind a number of permissions 
to ask, a hundred pretexts for deciding 
in favour of my natural incHnations and 
gratifying them. How glad I am now 
of having denied myself from the outset 
of my hfe in rehgion! Already I enjoy 
the reward promised to those who fight 
courageously. No longer do I feel the 
necessity of refusing myself consolations 
of the heart; for my heart is firmly fixed 
in God. . . Because it has loved Him 
above all, it has gradually enlarged, even 
so as to love those who are dear to it 
with a love incomparably deeper than 
if it were centred in a selfish and fruitless 
affection. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. X 



I 



N everything I must find self-denial 
and sacrifice; thus I feel that a letter 
will not bear fruit unless I write it with a 



88 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

certain reluctance, and solely through 
obedience. When conversing with a 
novice I am careful to mortify myself 
and to avoid asking her questions which 
would gratify my curiosity. If she com- 
mence to speak of something interesting, 
then, leaving it unfinished, pass to a 
subject wearisome to me, I take care not 
to remind her of the interruption, for it 
seems to me that one can do no good by 
self-seeking. 






HIST. D UNE AME, CH. X 



Gc 



rOD did not permit that our Mother 
should tell me to write down my poems 
according as I composed them, and I 
would not have Hked to ask her, fearing 
lest that might be a fault against poverty. 
So I used to wait until the hour of free 
time, and it was not without extreme 
difficulty that I recalled to mind, at 
eight o'clock in the evening, what I had 
composed in the morning. 

These httle nothings are a martyrdom 
it is true, but we must be well on our 
guard not to lessen it by allowing our- ! 



Mortification 89 

selves, or seeking to be allowed, a thou- 
sand things which would render the 
rehgious Hfe pleasant and comfortable. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

VV HEN some one rings for us, or 
knocks at our door, we must mortify 
ourselves so as not even to do one 
stitch more before answering. I have 
practised that; and it is, I assure you, a 
source of peace. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



D( 



'O you know my Sundays and festi- 
vals? They are the days when the good 
God tries me the most. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



s 



(EUR Therese de F Enfant Jesus says 
that she has not done any great penances: 
that is because her fervour counted as 
nothing those which were allowed her. 
It nevertheless happened that she became 
ill from wearing for too long a time a 
small iron cross, of which the sharp points 
were sunk into her flesh. 



90 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

**That would not have befallen me 
from so slight a penance," she said 
afterwards, **if the good God had not 
wanted to make me understand that the 
macerations of the Saints are not in- 
tended for me, nor for the httle souls who 
will tread the same path of spiritual 
childhood." 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



Tc 



O a novice whom she saw practise a 
little act of self-denial she said: 

"You will be very glad to find that 
before you at the moment of death. 
What you have just done is more glorious 
than if, by some skilful measures, you 
had gained for the rehgious communities 
the good-will of the Government, and 
that all France applauded you as a 
Judith." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



T< 



O another who was bewaihng her 
want of courage: 

*'You complain of what should cause 
you the greatest happiness. Where would 
be your merit if you must fight only 



Mortification 91 

when you felt the courage? What mat- 
ters it if you have none, provided that 
you act as if you had! If you feel too 
slothful to pick up a bit of thread, and 
that nevertheless you do it for the love 
of Jesus, you have more merit than if in 
a moment of fervour you were to accom- 
phsh something of far greater importance. 
So instead of being sorrowful, rejoice to 
see that in letting you feel your weakness 
the good Master provides you with an 
opportunity of gaining for Him a greater 
number of souls." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Bi 



>EING questioned as to her mode of 
sanctifying the repasts, Therese made 
answer: 

** In the refectory we have but one only 
thing to do: to accompHsh this so lowly 
act with thoughts uphfted. I declare 
to you that often it is in the refectory 
the sweetest aspirations of love come to 
me. Sometimes I am impelled to dwell 
on the thought that if our Divine Lord 
were in my place, with the fare set before 






gi Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 

Him as served to me, He would certainly 
partake of it. . . It is very probable that 
during His life on earth He tasted of the 
like food: He ate bread, fruits, etc, . . .; 
''Here are my simple httle rubrics: * 
''I picture myself at Nazareth in the 
house of Holy Family. If I am served 
with, for instance, salad, cold fish, wine 
or anything of strong flavour, I offer it 
to St. Joseph. To the Blessed Virgin 
I give the hot portions, well-ripened 
fruits, etc.; and the feast-day fare, 
particularly corn-flour, rice, preserves, 
these I offer to the Child Jesus. Lastly, 
when a bad dinner is brought me I say 
gaily to myself: 'Today, my dear little 
child, all that is for you.' " 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Or 



'NE fast-day when the Mother 
Prioress had ordered some special little 
thing by way of alleviation for Soeur 
Therese, a Sister relates that she surprised 
her in the act of seasoning this too 
palatable fare with wormwood. 



Mortification 93 

Another time she saw her slowly 
drinking some particularly disagreeable 
physic, and exclaimed: '*But be quick, 
drink that off at one draught!" *'0h 
no!" was the reply, "must I not take 
advantage of the trifling opportunities 
I meet with, to mortify myself a little, 
since it is forbidden me to look for 
greater?" 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



A^ 



^N extremely interesting letter had 
been read one day at the recreation in 
the absence of Therese who later showed 
a desire to read it. Some time after- 
wards when returning the letter, she was 
begged to say what she thought regarding 
something which should especially have 
dehghted her. She appeared embarrassed 
and then repHed: 

*'The good God has asked of me this 
sacrifice because of the eagerness that I 
manifested the other day; I have not 
read it. . ." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



94 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



s 



HE told the novices: ''At recreation 
more than elsewhere will you find occa- 
sions for the exercise of virtue. If you 
would reap great benefit, never go to it 
with any thought of your own recreation, 
but thinking of the recreation of others; 
practise therein total detachment from 
yourself. If, for instance, you are relating 
to one of the Sisters a story which seems 
to you interesting, and that she interrupts 
it to tell you something else, even though 
this may not at all interest you, Hsten 
to her as if it did, and do not try to return 
to your first subject. By so acting, you 
will go from the recreation room with 
great interior peace, and endued with 
fresh vigour in the practice of virtue, all 
because you have not sought to gratify 
yourself but to give pleasure to others. 
If one only knew what is gained by 
renouncing self in all things! ..." 

''You know it well; you have always 
acted thus?" 

"Yes, I have forgotten self, I have 
tried not to seek myself in anything." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 




A. 



OBEDIENCE 



lS I had self-love as well as the love 
of what is right it was sufficient but once 
to tell me: "Such a thing should not be 
done," and I would have no desire to do 
it again. 

° HIST. D UNE AME, CH. I 

Jj ROM what anxieties do we not free 
ourselves by making the vow of obedi- 
ence! How happy are single-minded 
rehgious. Their sole guide being the 
will of Superiors, they are ever secure 
of going the right way without fear of 
error, should it even appear to them 
certain that the Superiors are mistaken. 
But when one ceases to consult the sure 
compass, the soul forthwith loses her 



g6 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

way in arid paths where the waters of 
grace soon fail her. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 



D, 



'URING her illness the Infirmarian 
had recommended Soeur Therese to take 
a httle walk in the garden every day for 
a quarter of an hour. For her, this 
advice was a command. One afternoon, 
a Sister seeing her walk with much 
difficulty said to her: "You would do 
far better to rest; in such circumstances- 
walking can do you no good, you exhaust 
yourself, that is all." 

'*It is true," repKed this child of 
Obedience, *'but do you know what 
gives me strength? . . . Well! / walk 
for a Missionary, I think how some one 
of them far away, yonder, is perhaps 
exhausted in his apostolic journey ings, 
and to lessen his fatigue I offer mine to 
the good God." 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 




A. 



POVERTY 



lFTER I was clothed with the holy 
Habit abundant Hghts on rehgious per- 
fection were granted me, chiefly regarding 
the vow of poverty. During my postu- 
late I was pleased to have for my use, 
anything that was nice, and to find at 
my hand whatever was necessary. Jesus 
bore with this patiently, for He does not 
like to disclose all to the soul at once. 
He ordinarily gives His Hght httle by 
little. 

After Comphne one evening I looked 
in vain for our lantern on the shelves 
appointed for them; it was the time of 
great silence, not possible therefore to 
ask for it back. I rightly supposed that 
a Sister beheving she took her own had 
carried away ours; but must I spend a 



pS Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

whole hour in the dark in consequence of 
this mistake? And just that evening I 
had intended doing much work. With- 
out the interior hght of grace I should 
assuredly have bewailed my loss, but 
with that Hght, instead of experiencing 
vexation I was happy in thinking that 
poverty consists in being deprived not 
only of things desirable, but of those 
also that are indispensable. And in 
the exterior darkness I found my soul 
illumined with divine hght. 

I was seized at this time with a genuine 
love for what was ughest and least con- 
venient, thus I was dehghted when I saw 
the pretty httle jug carried off from our 
cell, and received in its stead a large one, 
all chipped. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. VII 



A 



NOVICE expressed regret for having 
lent a pin which was very serviceable to 
her: 

**0h! how rich you are," rephed 
Therese, '*you cannot be happy." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Poverty 99 



M. 



.AKE haste and come down: for this 
day I must abide in thy house.'' ^ Jesus 
tells us to come down; where, then, must 
we go? ... At an earher time the 
Jews asked Him: ''Master, where dwellest 
Thou." ^ And He said: ''The foxes have 
holes, and the birds of the air nests; but 
the Son of Man hath not where to lay His 
head." ^ Behold whereunto we must 
descend if we would serve as dwelHngs 
for Jesus: we must be so poor that we 
have not where to lay our head. 

XIII LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 

^ Luke, xix, 5. 2 John, f, 38. 

3 Luke, ix, 58. 




CONFIDENCE 



W. 



HAT offends Jesus, what wounds 
Him to the Heart, is want of confidence. 



I LETTER TO HER COUSIN MARIE GUERIN 



Bi 



RELIEVING that I was born for 
glory, and seeking the means to attain 
to it, it was revealed to me interiorly 
that my glory would never be visible to 
mortal eyes but would consist in becom- 
ing a saint. This desire might well 
seem presumptuously bold, considering 
how imperfect I was, and how imperfect 
I am still after so many years in rehgion; 
and yet I feel ever the same audacious 
confidence of becoming a great saint. 
I count not on my merits, having none; 
but I trust in Him who is Virtue and 



Confidence i o i 

Holiness itself. He alone it is who 
satisfied with my feeble efforts will raise 
me up even unto Himself, will clothe me 
with His merits and make me a saint. 



0, 



HIST. d'uNE AmE, CH. IV 



'URS is an age of inventions: now- 
adays, with the rich a Hft saves the 
trouble of chmbing the stairs. And I, 
fain would I too find a lift to bear me 
up unto God, for I am too Httle to chmb 
the rugged steps of perfection. 

Then I turned to the Holy Scriptures, 
seeking from them an indication of this 
lift, the object of my desires; and I read 
these words which have issued from the 
very mouth of the Eternal Wisdom: 
''Whosoever is a very little one, let 
him come to me," ^ Then I drew nigh 
unto God divining truly that I had 
discovered what I sought: wishing how- 
ever to know what He would do with the 
very little one, I continued my research 
and here is what I found: ''You shall be 
carried at the breast and upon the knees; 

^ Prov., ix, 4. 



102 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

as one whom the mother caresseth so will I 
comfort you,'' ^ 

Ah, never came words more sweet, 
more tender, to gladden my soul. Thine 
arms then, O Jesus, are the lift which 
must raise me up even unto Heaven! 
For this I need not grow, on the con- 
trary I must remain Httle, I must ever 
tend to become yet more httle. O my 
God, Thou hast gone beyond my ex- 
pectations, and I — I will sing Thy 
mercies! Thou hast taught me, God 
from my youth: and till now I have declared. 
Thy wondrous works. And unto old age 
and grey hairs ^ will I proclaim them. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 



s. 



fINCE it has been given to me too, 
to understand the love of the Heart of 
Jesus, I own that it has chased all fear 
from mine! The remembrance of my 
faults humihates me, and urges me 
never to depend upon my own strength 
which is nothing but weakness: still 
more does this remembrance speak to me 

^ Is., Ixvi, 12, 13. 2 q^^ ps,^ ixx, 17, 18. 



Confidence 103 

of mercy and of love. When, with all 
fihal confidence we cast our faults into 
the devouring furnace of love, how 
should they not be totally consumed? 

V LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY "BROTHERS " 



T. 



HOUGH we must needs be pure 
indeed to appear in the presence of the 
God of all Hohness, yet I know too that 
He is infinitely just; and this justice 
which affrights so many souls is the 
ground of my joy and my confidence. 
Justice not merely exercises severity 
towards the offender; it moreover recog- 
nizes a right intention, and awards to 
virtue its recompense. I hope as much 
from the Justice of the good God as 
from His Mercy; it is because He is 
just, that ^'He is compassionate and 
merciful, long-suffering and plenteous in 
mercy. For He knoweth our frame. He 
remembereth that we are but dust. As a 
father hath compassion on His children, so 
hath the Lord compassion on us!'' ^ . . . 

1 Ps., cif, 8, 13, 14. 



104 Thoughts oj Soeur Thenese 

Listening to these beautiful and con- 
soling words of the Royal Prophet, how 
can we doubt but that the good God 
will open the portals of His Kingdom 
to His children who have loved Him 
even unto sacrificing all for Him, who 
have not only left their kindred and 
their country, for the sake of making 
Him known and loved, but, still further, 
desire to give their hfe for Him? . . . 
Most truly has Jesus said that there is 
no greater love than this! How then 
could He suffer Himself to be outdone 
in generosity? How could He purify in 
the flames of Purgatory souls consumed 
by the fire of Divine Love? . . . 

That is what I think of the justice of 
the good God; my way is all confidence 
and love, I do not understand those souls 
who fear so tender a Friend. 

VI LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY " BROTHERS " 

X HAT joy to think that God is just, 
that is to say, that He takes our weakness 
into consideration, that He thoroughly 
knows the frailty of our nature. Of 



Confidence 105 

what then, should I be afraid? Must 
not the good and infinitely just God, 
who with such tender mercy deigns to 
pardon the Prodigal Son, must He not 
be just towards me too — who am always 
with Him? ^ 



I 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. VIII 



WANT to make you understand by a 
very simple comparison how much Jesus 
loves souls, even the imperfect, who 
trust in Him. Suppose the father of 
two wayward and disobedient children, 
coming to punish them, sees one tremble 
and draw away from him in terror; 
while the other, on the contrary, throw- 
ing himself into his arms, says he is 
sorry, promises to be good henceforward 
and begs for a ki^s as punishment. Do 
you think the dehghted father will 
withstand the fihal confidence of this 
child? He knows nevertheless that his 
son will fall again many a time into the 
same faults, but he is disposed to pardon 
him always, if always there be an appeal 
to his heart. 

^ Luke, XV, 31. 



io6 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

I say nothing of the other child: you 
must understand that his father cannot 
love him as much or treat him with the 
same indulgence. 

VIII LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY " BROTHERS*' 



T. 



RULY the Heart of Jesus is more 
grieved by the thousand httle imperfec- 
tions of His friends than by even grave 
faults of His enemies. But it seems 
to me that it is only when His own 
chosen ones make a habit of these in- 
fidehties, and do not ask His pardon, 
that He can say: ''These wounds which 
you see in the midst of My Hands: with 
these was I wounded in the house of them 
that loved Me." ^ 

For those who love Him and who 
come after each Httle fault and throw 
themselves into His arms, begging His 
forgiveness, the Heart of Jesus thrills 
with joy. He says to His Angels what 
the father of the prodigal son said to 
His servants: ''Put a ring on his finger 
and let us rejoice,'' ^ Oh! the goodness 

^ C/. Zach., xiii, 6. " Cf. Luke, xv, 22. 



Confidence 107 

and the merciful love of the Heart of 
Jesus, how httle is it known! True it 
is, that to share in these treasures we 
must humble ourselves, must acknowledge 
our nothingness, and that is what many 
souls are unwilhng to do. 

VII LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY " BROTHERS*' 



0, 



'UR dreams, our desires of perfection 
are not vain imaginations, since Jesus 
Himself has given us this commandment, 
He said: '*Be you, therefore, perfect, as 
also your Heavenly Father is perfect,'' ^ 

II LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 

X RULY I am far from being a saint. 
I ought not to rejoice at the aridity of 
my soul, but attribute it to the scanti- 
ness of my fervour and fidehty. I 
ought to grieve because I fall asleep very 
often during my prayer and my thanks- 
giving. Well, I do not grieve! I reflect 
that httle children when they sleep are 
as pleasing to their parents as when they 

1 Matt., V, 48. 



io8 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

are awake; that in order to perform 
operations, doctors put their patients 
to sleep; in fine, that the Lord knoweth 
our frame. He remembereth that we are 
but dust} 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. VIII 



I 



HAVE no fear of the last combats, 
nor of the physical suffering how great 
soever it may be. The good God has 
always come to my assistance, He has 
helped me and led me by the hand from 
my earhest years. . . I count on Him , 
. . . my sufferings may reach their furthest 
limits, but I am sure that He will never 
abandon me. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



I 



T is confidence, and confidence alone, 
that must lead us to Love. . . Does not 
fear lead us rather to think of the rigid 
justice by which sinners are warned? 
But that is not the justice that Jesus 
will show to those who love Him. 

VI LETTER TO SCEUR MARIE DU SACRE-CCEUR 

^ Ps., cii, 14. 







Confidence 109 



JESUS, suffer me to tell Thee that 
Thy Love reacheth even unto folly. . . 
What wilt Thou, in face of this folly, 
but that my heart dart upwards to 
Thee — how can my confidence have 
any bounds? 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XI 



I 



T is not because I have been shielded 
from mortal sin that I hft up my heart 
to God in trust and love. I feel that 
even if there lay upon my conscience all 
the crimes one could commit I should 
lose nothing of my confidence. Broken- 
hearted with compunction I would go and 
throw myself into the arms of my Saviour. 
I know that He cherished the Prodigal 
Son, I have heard His words to Mary 
Magdalene, to the adultress, to the 
Samaritan woman. No one could 
frighten me, for I know what to beheve 
concerning His Mercy and His Love. 
I know that in one moment all that 
multitude of sins would disappear — as 
a drop of water cast into a red-hot fur- 
nace. 



no Thoughts oj Sceur Therese 

It is related in the Lives of the Fathers 
of the Desert that one of them converted 
a pubhc sinner whose misdeeds scan- 
dahzed the whole country. Touched by 
grace this sinful woman was following 
the saint into the desert, there to do 
rigorous penance, when, on the first 
night of her journey, before she had 
even reached the place of her retreat, 
the bonds of hfe were broken by the 
impetuosity of her loving contrition. 
The holy hermit at the same moment 
saw her soul borne by Angels into the 
Bosom of God. 

That is truly a striking instance of 
what I want to express, but one cannot 
put these things into words. . . 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XI 



K 



LAPPY indeed am I to die and go 
to Heaven, but when I think on those 
words of our Lord: ''Behold, I come 
quickly, and My reward is with Me, to 
render to every man according to his works,"^ 
I reflect that He will be very much 
1 Apoc, xxii, 12. 




THE SERVANT OF GOD 
THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS 



Confidence 1 1 1 

\ embarrassed as regards me: I have no 
works. . . Well, He will render to me 

ACCORDING TO HiS OWN WORKS ! 



Or 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



'NE evening as they were telhng her 
something which had been said at recrea- 
tion, touching the responsibihty of those 
who have the charge of souls, Soeur 
Therese de T Enfant Jesus spoke these 
beautiful words: '''To him that is little, 
mercy is granted,' ^ It is possible to 
remain little, even in the most important 
offices; and is it not written that at the 
end the Lord will arise to save the meek 
and humble of the earth? ^ It says not 
to judge but to save.'' 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



A 



NOVICE questioning as to whether 
our Lord were not dissatisfied with her 
on account of her many miseries, Soeur 
Therese made answer: 

'*Set your mind at rest: He whom 
you have chosen as your Spouse possesses 

1 Wisdom, vi, 7. ^ Q", pg.^ Ixxv, 10. 



112 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

certainly every perfection that can be 
desired; but, if I may dare to say it, 
He has at the same time one great in- 
firmity: He is blind! And there is a 
science which He knows not, that of 
calculation. These two points which 
would be most lamentable deficiencies in 
an earthly spouse, render ours infinitely 
lovable. Were He to consider our sins 
and reckon with them, do you not think 
that in the face of all these sins He 
would cast us back into nothingness? 
But no, His love for us makes Him ab- 
solutely bhnd! 

**See for yourself: if the greatest 
sinner on earth, at the hour of death 
repent of his transgressions and expire 
in an act of love, immediately, without 
calculating on the one hand the numerous 
graces abused by this unhappy man, nor 
on the other, all his crimes, Jesus sees 
nothing, counts nothing, but the peni- 
tent's last prayer, and delays not to 
receive him into the arms of His Mercy. 

'*But to render Him thus bhnd, to 
hinder Him from doing the least Httle 



Confidence 113 

bit of reckoning, we must know how to 
lay siege to His Heart; at that point 
He is defenceless. . ." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

X O another, who bitterly repented of 
a fault just committed, Soeur Therese 
said: 

"Take your Crucifix and kiss it." 

The novice kissed the feet. 

"Is that how a child embraces her 
Father? Put your arms round His Neck 
immediately and kiss His Face." 

She obeyed. 

"That is not all. He must return your 
caresses." 

And she had to hold the Crucifix to 
each cheek; then Therese said: 
. "That is well, now all is forgiven!" 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



HA^ 



^VING caused her pain, a novice 
went to ask pardon of Soeur Therese, 
who rephed with emotion: "If you only 
knew what I feel! Never have I so well 
understood with what love Jesus receives 



1 14 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

us, when, after a fault we beg Him to 
forgive us. If I, His poor little creature, 
feel such tenderness for you the moment 
you return to me, what must pass in the 
Heart of the good God when we return 
to Him? . . . Yes, surely, more swiftly 
yet than I have just done, will He forget 
all our iniquities, never again to remember 
them. . . He will do even more — He 
will love us still better than before our 
fault! ..." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 




SELF-ABANDONMENT 



I 



CANNOT think without rapture of 
the dear httle Saint Caeciha: what a 
model! In the midst of a pagan world, 
in the heart of danger, at the moment 
when about to be united to a mortal 
who sought none but earthly love, it 
seems to me that she ought to have 
trembled and wept. But no, while her 
bridal was celebrated with joyful melody 
Cdecilia was singing in her heart.^ What 
abandonment to God! Without doubt 
she listened to other melodies than those 
of earth; her Divine Spouse, He too, was 
singing, and Angel choirs sang again the 
refrain of one most blessed night: ''Glory 
to God in the highest and on earth peace to 
men of good will'' ^ 

1 Office of St. Csecilia. ^ Luke, ii, 14. 



ii6 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 

The glory of God! — Oh! Cseciha 
understood it; most earnestly did she 
long for it. She divined that her Jesus 
was athirst for souls . . . that is why 
her whole desire was that she might lead 
speedily to Him the soul of the young 
Roman, who dreamed of naught but 
human glory: this wise Virgin will make 
of him a martyr, and multitudes will 
follow in his footprints. She fears noth- 
ing: the Angels have promised and have 
sung of peace. She knows that the 
Prince of Peace is bound to protect her, 
to shield her virginity and to give to her 
its recompense. "0 how beautiful is the 
chaste generation!'' ^ 

XVII LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



I 



HAD offered myself to the Child 
Jesus to be His little plaything, I had 
told Him not to use me hke a costly 
toy which children are pleased to look at 
without daring to touch; but as He 
would a Httle ball of no value, that He 
might throw to the ground, toss about, 

1 Wisdom, iv, i. 



Self- A bandonment 1 1 7 

pierce, leave in a corner, or else press to 
His Heart if so it pleased Him. In a 
word / wanted to amuse the little Jesus, 
and to give myself up to all His childlike 
fancies. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. VI 



M^ 



_ Y heart is entirely filled with the will 
of Jesus; therefore when anything over 
and above falls to its share, this does not 
penetrate to its depths; it is a mere 
nothing which easily ghdes by, as oil 
on the surface of hmpid water. Ah! if 
my heart were not filled up beforehand, 
had it to be filled by the sentiments of 
joy or of sadness which so quickly 
succeed each other, bitter indeed would 
be this flood-tide of pain; but these 
rapid alternations do no more than 
ruffle the surface of my soul, and I remain 
ever in a profound peace that nothing 
can disturb. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



I 



AM not always faithful, but I am never 
discouraged; I leave myself wholly in 
the arms of our Divine Lord; He teaches 



ii8 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

me to draw profit Jrom all — both good 
and ill that He finds in me.^ He teaches 
me to speculate in the Bank of Love, 
or rather it is He who acts for me without 
telhng me how He goes to work, that is 
His affair and not mine; my part is 
complete surrender, reserving nothing to 
myself, not even the gratification of 
knowing how my credit stands with the 
Bank. 



XVI LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



A 



SISTER told Soeur Therese of the 
strange phenomena produced by mag- 
netism on persons who really wish to 
yield up their will to the mesmerizer. 
These details appeared to interest her 
keenly and on the morrow she said to 
the Sister: 

*'Your conversation yesterday did me 
so much good. Oh! how I wish to be 
magnetized by our Lord. It was my 
first thought on awakening. With what 
dehght have I dehvered my will lip to 
Him. Yes, I want Him to make Himself 

1 St. John of the Cross. 



Self' A bandonment 1 1 9 

master of my faculties in such sort that 
my actions shall no longer be human or 
personal, but wholly divine, inspired and 
directed by the Spirit of Love." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Yc 



OU are quite wrong to think of 
sorrows that the future may bring; 
it is, as it were, intermeddhng with 
Divine Providence. We who run in 
the way of Love must never torment 
ourselves about anything. If I did not 
suffer minute by minute, it would be 
impossible for me to be patient; but I 
see only the present moment, I forget 
the past and I take good care not to 
anticipate the future. If we grow dis- 
heartened, if sometimes we despair, it is 
because we have been dwelHng on the 
past or the future. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



I 



NO longer thirst for either suffering or 
death, yet both I dearly prize. Long 
did I call upon them as the harbingers of 



120 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

joy. . . Suffering has in very truth been 
mine, and I have thought I wellnigh 
touched the eternal shore! I have be- 
heved from my earhest youth that the 
little flower would be gathered in its 
spring-time; now, it is the spirit of self- 
abandonment alone that guides me, no 
other compass have I. I know not 
now, how to ask anything eagerly, save 
the perfect accomphshment of God's 
designs upon my soul. 

HIST. D*UNE AME, CH. VIII 

Jr RAY for me," she would often say, 
"when I implore Heaven to come to my 
aid, then it is that I feel most forsaken." 

*'And in this desolation how do you 
avoid discouragement?" they asked her. 

**I turn to the good God, to all the 
Saints, and I thank them just the same. 
I think they wish to see to what point 
I shall carry my trust. . . But not in 
vain have these words of Job sunk into 
my heart: 'Though He should kill me yet 
will I trust in Him,' ^ I acknowledge ic 
1 Job, xiii, 15. 



i 



Self 'A bandonment 121 

was long before I reached this degree of 
abandonment; our Lord has taken me 
and placed me there!" 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



I 



T seems to me that nothing now 
hinders me from taking flight, for I no 
longer have any great desires, save to 
love, even unto dying of love. I am 
free, I have no fear, not even of what I 
most dreaded; I mean the fear of being 
a long time ill and consequently a burthen 
to the Community. If it gives pleasure 
to the good God I wilHngly consent to 
see my Hfe of suff"ering, both of soul and 
body, prolonged for years. Oh! no, I 
do not fear a long Hfe. I do not shun 
the combat. " The Lord is the rock upon 
which I am founded. Who teacheth my 
hands to fight and my fingers to war; 
He is my protector in whom I have hoped,'' ^ 
Never have I asked God to let me die 
young; it is true I have ever beheved 
that it would be so, but without seeking 
to obtain it. 

HIST. D UNE AME, CH. IX 

^ CJ. Ps., cxiiii, I, 2, 3. 



122 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



w. 



HATEVER the good God has given 
me has always pleased me, even the 
gifts which have appeared to me less 
good and less beautiful than those 
received by others. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



I 



HAVE no greater desire to die than 
to hve; if our Lord gave me the choice I 
would choose nothing; I only will what 
He wills; it is what He does that I love. 



S( 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



;OME think you are afraid of death," 
they said to her. — '*That may indeed 
yet happen; I never depend on my own 
thoughts, knowing how weak I am; but 
at present I will rejoice in the sentiments 
that the good God now gives me, there 
will be time enough to suffer from the 
contrary." 



A 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



SISTER said to her: 
*'If anyone goes straight to Heaven, 
you surely will not spend one moment 
in Purgatory!" 



Self' A bandor\ment 1 2 3 

"Oh! I feel little anxiety about that; 
I shall always be content with the 
sentence of the good God. If I go to 
Purgatory, well — I shall walk in the 
midst of the flames, hke the three He- 
brews in the furnace, singing the Canticle 
of Love." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



I 




o. 



GRATITUDE 



'H, how happy God makes me! 
How easy and how sweet it is to serve 
Him upon earth. 

D*UNE AME, CH. X 



HIST. 



s. 



;EEING several of my companions 
form special attachments to some one or 
other of our mistresses, I wished to 
follow their example but could not 
succeed therein. O happy inabihty! from* 
how great evils has it saved me. . . How 
I thank God for having made me fmd 
only bitterness in the friendships of 
earth. With a heart such as mine I 
should have been captured and had my 
wings chpped; then how should I have 
been able to fly away and he at rest.^ 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. ly 

1 Ps., Ifv, 7. 



I 



Gratitude 125 



UNDERSTAND well that our Lord 
knew I was too weak to be exposed to 
temptation; without doubt I should 
have been wholly destroyed had I been 
dazzled by the deceitful glamour of the 
love of creatures; but never has it shone 
before my eyes. There, where strong 
souls find joy, and through fidehty 
detach themselves from it, I have found 
only affliction. Where then is my merit 
in not being given up to these fragile 
attachments, since it is only by a gracious 
effect of God's mercy that I was preserved 
from it? Without Him, I recognize 
that I might have fallen as low as St. 
Magdalene; and that word of deep 
meaning spoken by the Divine Master 
to Simon the Pharisee, re-echoes with 
great sweetness in my soul. Yes, I 
know it: *To whom less is forgiven, he 
loveth less'' ^ But I also know that 
Jesus has forgiven more to me than to 
St. Magdalene. Ah, how I wish I could 
express what I feel. Here at least is an 

1 Luke, vii, 47. 



126 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

example which will in some measure 
convey my thought. 

Suppose the son of a skilful doctor is 
tripped by a stone in his path, which 
causes him to fall and fracture a Hmb. 
His father comes in haste, hfts him up 
lovingly and attends to his injuries, 
employing therein all the resources of 
his art; and the boy, very soon com- 
pletely cured, testifies his gratitude. 
This child has certainly good reason to 
love so kind a father; but here is another 
supposition. 

The father having learnt that there 
lies in his son's way a dangerous stone, 
sets out beforehand and removes it 
unseen by anyone. His son, the object 
of this tender forethought, unaware of 
the misfortune from which he has been 
preserved by the father's hand, will of 
course show no gratitude, and will love 
him less than if he had cured him of a 
grievous wound. But should he come 
to know all, will he not love him still 
more? Well — I am this child, the 
object of the preventing love of a Father 



Gratitude 127 

Who sent His Son not to redeem the just 
but sinners,^ He wills that I should love 
Him because He has forgiven me, not 
much, but everything. Without waiting 
for me to love Him much, hke St. Mary 
Magdalene, He has made me to know 
how He had loved me with a preventing 
and ineffable love, in order that I may 
now love Him even unto folly! 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. IV 



w. 



ALKING one day in the garden, 
leaning on one of her sisters, Therese 
paused to enjoy the fascinating sight of 
a httle white hen sheltering its chickens 
beneath its wings. Very soon her eyes 
filled with tears, and turning to her dear 
companion she said: **I can stay no 
longer, let us go in again quickly. . ." 
And in her cell, her tears continued 
falHng and she could not utter a word. 
At last, looking at her sister with an 
expression that was quite heavenly, she 
said: 

1 Luke, V, 32. 



128 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

*'I was thinking of our Lord, and of 
the touching comparison He chose in 
order to make us beheve in His tender- 
ness. That is just what He has done 
for me all my hfe: He has wholly hidden 
me beneath His wings! I cannot express 
what passed within my heart. Ah! the 
good God does well to veil Himself from 
my sight, to show me the effects of His 
Mercy rarely, and as it were, ''through 
the lattices;^' ^ such consolations would, 
I feel, be more than I could bear. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



o. 



'H! how good is the good God!" . . . 
she would sometimes exclaim. **Yes, 
He must indeed be good to give me the 
strength to endure all that I suffer." 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



0, 



"NE day she said to the Mother 
Prioress : 

*' I would Hke to speak to you, Mother, 
of the state of my soul; but I cannot, 
I am too deeply moved just now." 

^ Cant., ii, 9. 



Gratitude 1 29 

And in the evening she sent these Hnes 
pencilled with a trembling hand: 

**0 my God, how good Thou art to 
the little victim of Thy Merciful Love! 
Now even though Thou dost join physical 
suffering to the trials of my soul, I cannot 
say: 'The sorrows oj death have encom- 
passed me.' ^ But I cry out in my 
gratitude: 'I have gone down into the 
valley of the shadow of death, yet I fear no 
evil, because Thou, Lord, art with me.'" ^ 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 

^ Ps., xvii, 5. ^ CJ. Ps., xxii, 4. 




ZEAL 

X HE cry of Jesus agonizing, "I 
thirst!" re-echoed continually in my 
heart, firing it with an ardent zeal till 
then unknown to me. I longed to give 
to my Beloved to drink: I too felt 
myself consumed with the thirst for 
souls, and at all cost I would wrest 
sinners from the eternal flames. 

HIST. D*UNE AME, CH. V 

X HE Precious Blood of Jesus I poured 
on souls, to Him I off'ered these same 
souls renewed by the Dew of Calvary; 
thus I thought to quench His Thirst; 
but the more I gave Him to drink, the 
more ardently my poor httle soul thirsted 
— and this I received as a most precious 
recompense. 

^ HIST. D UNE AME, CH. V 



Zeal 131 

JLjIKE the Prophets and the Doctors 
I would fain enhghten souls. Fain would 
I travel the earth, O my Well-Beloved, 
to preach Thy Name and to set up Thy 
glorious Cross in Pagan lands. But one 
mission only would not suffice for me; 
would that I could at one and the same 
time proclaim the Gospel all the world 
over, even to the remotest of its islands. 
I would desire to be a Missionary not 
only for a few years, but to have been 
one from the creation of the world, and 
so to continue to the end of time. 



I 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XI 



LONG to accompHsh the most heroic 
deeds. I feel within me the courage of a 
Crusader. I would die on the battle- 
field in defence of the Church. 



0. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XI 



'PEN, my Jesus, thy Book of Life 
wherein are recorded the actions of all 
the Saints; those actions — would that 
I too, had accomphshed such for Thee! 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XI 



k 



132 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



s 



OULS — dear Lord, we must have 
souls! Above all, souls of apostles and 
of martyrs, that through them we may 
inflame the multitude of poor sinners 
with love of Thee. 



A. 



HIST. D UNE AME, APPENDIX 



^FTER recreation one day when the 
Mother Prioress had spoken of the 
persecution already raging against Reh- 
gious Communities, Soeur Therese said 
to a novice: *'Ah! Sister, we Hve in an 
era of martyrs! Blood will be shed. — 
What happiness if it should be ours!" 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



A 



NOVICE on her way to the laundry 
one day, went at a slow pace through 
the garden, looking at the flowers as 
she passed. Soeur Therese who foHowed 
walking quickly, soon overtook her and 
said: **Is that how one hastens who has 
children (souls) to support, for whose 
sustenance she is obhged to work? ..." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



D. 



Zeal 133 



'URING her illness she wrote: 
"The will of the good God is my sole 
desire; and I declare that if in Heaven 
I could no longer work for His glory, I 
would choose exile rather than the 
Fatherland." 

IV LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY " BROTHERS" 



Wh 



'HAT draws me towards the Heavenly 
Country is the call of our Lord, the hope 
of at last loving Him as I have so ardently 
desired, and the thought that I shall be 
able to make Him loved by a multitude 
oj souls who will bless Him eternally. 

VIII LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY "BROTHERS " 



G 



CONFIDENTLY I count upon not 
remaining inactive in Heaven, my desire 
is to work still for the Church and for 
souls : this I ask of God, and I am certain 
that He will hear me. If I quit already 
the battlefield, it is not with the selfish 
desire of taking my rest. Suffering has 
long since become my heaven here 



134 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 

below, and it is difficult to imagine how 
it will be possible for me to become 
acclimatized to a country where joy 
reigns, unmingled with sorrow. Jesus 
must needs transform my soul com- 
pletely, else I could not support eternal 
bhss. 

HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



il UST now a few notes of distant music 
fell upon my ear, and set me thinking 
that very soon I shall hear melodies 
beyond compare; yet this thought can 
give me but a moment's gladness; one 
only expectation makes my heart throb: 
it is the love that I shall receive and the 
love that I shall be able to give! 

I feel that my mission is now to begin, 
my mission to make others love the good 
God as I love Him , . , to give to souls my 
little way. I will spend my heaven in 

DOING GOOD UPON EARTH. This is not 

impossible, since the Angels in the full 
enjoyment of the Beatific Vision keep 
watch over us. No, I shall never rest 
till the end of the world! But when 



Zeal 135 

the Angel shall have said: "Time is no 
more!" ^ then I shall rest — shall be 
able to rejoice, because the number of 
the elect will be complete. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 

^ Apoc, X, 6. 




SIMPLICITY 



W> 



HEN I read certain treatises where 
perfection is set forth as encompassed 
by a thousand obstacles, my poor Httle 
head grows weary very quickly. I close 
the learned book which puzzles my 
brains and dries up my heart, and in its \ 
stead I open the Holy Scriptures. Then 
all appears clear, luminous. . . one single 
word discloses to my soul infinite horizons, 
perfection seems easy. I see that it is 
sufficient to recognize our nothingness, 
and to leave oneself hke a child, in the 
arms of the good God. Let great souls 
and subhme intellects enjoy the beautiful 
books which I cannot understand, still 
less put in practice; I rejoice in being 
little, since ''children only and those who 



Simplicity 137 

resemble them will be admitted to the 
Heavenly banquet.'' ^ 

It is well that the Kingdom of Heaven 
contains many mansions, for if there 
were none other than those of which the 
description and the way seem incom- 
prehensible to me, I should never be 
able to enter therein. 

VI LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY ** BROTHERS*' 



M' 



_ Y patrons in Heaven and my chosen 
favourites are those who have stolen it 
— like the Holy Innocents and the Good 
Thief. The great Saints have earned it 
by their works; as for me, I will imitate 
the thieves, I will have it by ruse, a ruse 
of Love which will open its gates to me 
and to poor sinners. The Holy Ghost 
encourages me, saying in the Book of 
Proverbs: *'0 little one, come, learn 
subtlety of me,'' ^ 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



0, 



'UR Lord rephed to the mother of 
the sons of Zebedee: "To sit on My 
1 C/. Matt., xix, 14. 2 Q^ Prov., i, 4. 



138 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 

right and on My lejt hand is for them for 
whom it is prepared by My Father.'' ^ 
I imagine that those places of choice, 
refused to great Saints, to Martyrs, will 
be the portion of little children. 

Did not David predict it when he said 
that the little Benjamin will preside 
amidst the assemblies (of the saints) 7^ 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



I 



F you could begin your rehgious Hfe 
over again" asked a novice, **what 
would you do?" 

*'It seems to me that I would do as I 
have done." 

*'You do not then feel Kke the hermit 
who used to say: 'Even though I had 
Hved long years in penance yet I should 
fear damnation while there still remained 
to me one quarter of an hour, one breath 
of Hfe.' 

'*No, I cannot share that fear, I am 
too httle to be damned, Httle children 
are not damned." 

1 C/. Matt., XX, 23. 2 Q^ ps.^ Ixvii, 29. 



Simplicity 139 

'*You always seek to be like the little 
ones — but tell us what we must do to 
possess the spirit of childhood? What 
does it exactly mean — to remain 
Httle? 

''To remain Httle — it is to recognize 
our nothingness, to expect everything 
from the good God, not to be too much 
afHicted about our faults, for Httle children 
faU often but are too smaK to hurt them- 
selves much: in fine, it is not to make 
one's fortune, nor to be disquieted about 
anything. Even in the homes of the 
poor, as long as a child is quite Httle they 
give him what is needful; but when 
grown up, the father is no longer wihing 
to support him and says: 'Now work! 
you can provide for yourself.' WeH, it 
was to escape hearing that, that I have 
never wished to grow up, for I know 
myself incapable of earning my HveHhood 
— Eternal Life! 

"Again, to remain Httle is not to 
attribute to self the virtues we practise; 
but to acknowledge that the good God 
places this treasure in the hand of His 



140 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

little child to be made use of when 
required." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



B. 



>E not afraid to tell Jesus that you 
love Him; even though it be without 
feeling, this is the way to obhge Him 
to help you, and carry you Kke a Httle 
child too feeble to walk. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



I 



T is a great trial to see only the black 
side of things, but that does not depend 
completely upon you. Do your best to 
detach your heart from the cares of this 
world, and above all from creatures; 
then you may be sure that Jesus will do 
the rest. He could not suffer you to 
fall into the abyss. Be comforted, Httle 
one, in Heaven you will no longer see 
all black but all white; yes, all will be 
clothed with the divine whiteness of our 
Spouse, the Lily of the Valley. Together 
we shall follow Him whithersoever He 
goeth. . . Oh! let us profit by the brief 
moments of this Hfe to give pleasure to 



Simplicity 141 

Jesus, let us win souls for Him by our 
sacrifices. Above all let us be little, so 
little that all the world may trample us 
under foot without even our appearing 
to feel it or to suffer from it. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Yc 



OU are wrong to find fault with one 
thing and another, and to seek that all 
should yield to your way of viewing 
things. We want to be Hke httle children, 
and httle children know not what is 
best, to them all seems well; let us 
imitate them. Besides there would be 
no merit [in obedience] were we only 
to do what would appear reasonable to 
us. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



A 



NOVICE under a temptation which 
seemed to her insurmountable said: 
**This time I cannot rise above it — it is 
impossible." Therese rephed: ''Why do 
you try to rise above it? Pass beneath 
it quite simply. It is very well for great 
souls to soar high above the clouds when 



142 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

the storm is raging, but for us, we have 
merely to bear the showers with patience. 
If we do get rather wet — no matter! 
We shall dry ourselves afterwards in the 
sunshine of Love. 

That brings to mind this Httle trait 
of my childhood; a horse one day stand- 
ing at the garden gate barred our en- 
trance; those with me endeavoured by 
force of talking, etc., to get him to move 
back, but while they talked I very 
quietly shpped in, through the horse's 
legs. . . See how one may gain by 
remaining Httle! 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

X O a young Sister discouraged at 
seeing her imperfections, Soeur Therese 
said: '*You make me think of a very 
little child who is just able to stand 
upright but does not yet know how to 
walk. Intent upon reaching the top of 
the stairs so as to get back to his mother 
he hfts his foot to chmb the first step. 
Fruitless endeavour! At each attempt 
he falls without advancing in the least. 



Simplicity 143 

Well, be like that little child; by the 
practice of every virtue keep on ever 
hfting your Httle foot to chmb the steps 
of sanctity, and do not imagine that you 
will be able to mount even the first! 
No; but good will is all God requires of 
you. From the top of those steps He is 
watching you with love; and won by 
your unavailing efforts He will Himself 
soon come down, and taking you in His 
arms will bear you away to His Kingdom, 
never more to quit Him. But if you 
cease to Hft your Httle foot He will leave 
you a long time on earth." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

X HE only means of making rapid 
progress in the path of Love is to remain 
always very little; that is what I have 
done; so now I can sing with our Father 
St. John of the Cross: 

And stooping so low, so low, 
I rose still higher and higher 
And thus I attained my end. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



144 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



S( 



;OME one was speaking to her of the 
mortifications of the Saints, she rephed: 

"It is well our Lord has let us know 
that there are many mansions in His 
Father's House, that if not He would have 
told us.^ Yes, if all souls called to 
perfection had been obhged to practise 
these macerations in order to enter 
Heaven, He would have said so, and 
gladly would we have undertaken them. 
But He tells us that in His House there 
are many mansions. If there are those 
for great souls, for the Fathers of the 
Desert and for martyrs of penance, 
there must be one also for Httle children. 
Our place is reserved there, if our love 
be great — for Him and for our Heavenly 
Father and the Spirit of Love." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

*'I feel that my mission is now to 
begin," she said a few days before her 
death, *'my mission to make others love 
the good God as I love Him, to give my 
little way to souls. . ." 

^ Cf. John, xiv, 2. 



Simplicity 145 

**What is this 'little way' that you 
want to teach to souls?" 

" It is the path of spiritual childhood, it 
is the way of trust and oj entire selj-sur- 
render, I want to make known to them 
the simple means that have so perfectly 
succeeded for me, to tell them that there 
is but one only thing to do here below: 
to cast down before Jesus the flowers of 
little sacrifices, to win Him by caresses! 
That is how I have won Him, and that 
is why I shall be so well received." 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



I 



F I am misguiding you by my little 
way of Love, she said to a novice, do not 
fear that I shall let you follow it very 
long. I shall appear to ^ou, and tell 
you to take another path; but if I do not 
return, beheve in the truth of my words: 
never can we have too much confidence in 
the good God, so mighty and so merciful! 
As much as we hope for shall we obtain 
from Him! . . . 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



146 Thoughts of Sceur Therese 



A 



NOVICE said to her on the eve of 
the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: 
**If you were to die to-morrow after 
Holy Communion, it seems to me that so 
beautiful a death would console me in 
the midst of my grief." 

And Therese rephed with animation: 
"Die after Holy Communion! On a 
grand Feast day! No, it will not be so: 
little souls could not copy that. In 
my Httle way there are only quite ordinary 
things; all that I do, little souls must be 
able to do also." 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 




PRAYER 



As 



^S I grew older I loved the good God 
more and more, and very frequently 
did I offer Him my heart, using the 
words my mother had taught me. I 
strove in all my actions to please Jesus 
and was most watchful never to offend 
Him. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. 11 



M' 



.Y whole strength lies in prayer and 
sacrifice, these are my invincible arms; 
they can move hearts far better than 
words, I know it by experience. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. X 



G. 



^REAT is the power of prayer — a 
queen, as one might say, having free 



148 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

access always to the King, and able to 
obtain whatever she asks. In order to 
be heard, it is not necessary to read from 
a book a beautiful form of prayer adapted 
to the circumstances; if it were so, how 
greatly to be pitied should I be! 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. X 



I 



HAVE not the courage to force my- 
self to seek beautiful prayers in books; 
not knowing which to choose I act as 
children do who cannot read; I say 
quite simply to the good God what I 
want to tell Him, and He always under- 
stands me. 

HIST. D UNE AME, CH. X 

JL RAYER is, for me, an outburst from 
the heart; it is a simple glance darted 
upwards to Heaven; it is a cry of grati- 
tude and of love in the midst of trial as 
in the midst of joy! In a word, it is 
something exalted, supernatural, which 
dilates the soul and unites it to God. 
Sometimes when I find myself, spiritually, 
in dryness so great that I cannot produce 



Prayer 149 

a single good thought, I recite very 
slowly a Pater or an Ave Maria; these 
prayers alone console me, they suffice, 
they nourish my soul. 

HIST. D*UNE AME, CH. X 

JL HE principal plenary indulgence and 
one which all may gain without the 
ordinary conditions, is that of charity 
which covereth a multitude oj sins,^ 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Fc 



ORMERLY if any of my family 
were in trouble, and that I had been 
unable to succeed in comforting them 
during their visit, I would go from the 
parlour heart-broken; but soon Jesus 
made me understand that I was incapable 
of giving consolation to a soul. From 
that day forth I grieved no more when 
anyone went away sad; I confided to 
the good God the sorrows of those who 
were dear to me, feehng certain that He 
heard me, and at their next visit I used 
to find that it had indeed been so. Since 

^ Prov., X, 12. 



I 



150 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

I have experienced this, I no longer 
torment myself when involuntarily I 
give pain; I simply beg of Jesus to make 
up for what I have done. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



O, 



'NE day after Holy Communion the 
good God made me understand those 
words of the Canticles: ''Draw me: we 
will run after Thee to the odour of Thy 
ointments." ^ O Jesus, it is not then 
necessary to say: In drawing me, draw 
the souls whom I love. These simple 
words: ''Draw me'' suffice! Yes, when 
a soul has allowed herself to be captivated 
by the inebriating fragrance of Thy 
perfumes, she could not run alone, all 
the souls whom she loves are drawn after 
her; this is a natural consequence of her 
attraction towards Thee. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XI 



D 



RAW me, we will run, . ." 
To ask to be drawn is to will intimate 

1 Cant., I, 3. 



Prayer 151 

union with the object which holds the 
heart captive. If fire and iron were 
gifted with reason, and that the latter 
said to the fire: "Draw me," would not 
this prove that it desired to become 
identified with the fire even so far as to 
share its substance? Well, that is exactly 
my prayer. I beg of Jesus to draw me 
into the flames of His Love, to unite me 
so closely to Himself that He may five 
and act in me. I feel that the more the 
fire of love inflames my heart, the more 
I shall say: **Draw me," the more also 
will the souls who draw near to mine run 
swiftly in the fragrant odours of the 
Well-Beloved. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XI 



S 



OULS thus on fire cannot rest in- 
active. They may sit at the feet of 
Jesus, Hke Saint Mary Magdalene, hsten- 
ing to His sweet and ardent words; but, 
while seeming to give nothing, they 
do give far more than Martha who 
troubles herself with many things.^ It is 

^ Luke, X, 41 



152 Thoughts of Sceur Therese 

not however of Martha's labours that 
Jesus disapproves, but only her too great 
anxiety; to this very same work His 
Blessed Mother humbly submitted her- 
self, when she had to prepare the repasts 
for the Holy Family. 

All the Saints have understood this, 
and more especially perhaps those who 
have enhghtened the world with the 
luminous teaching of the Gospel. Was 
it not from prayer that Saint Paul, Saint 
Augustine, Saint Thomas of Aquin, 
Saint John of the Cross, Saint Teresa and 
so many other friends of God drew that 
wondrous science which enraptures the 
greatest intellects? 

Archimedes said: **Give me a lever 
and a fulcrum, and I will raise the 
world." What he was unable to obtain 
because his request had but a material 
end and was not addressed to God, the 
Saints have obtained in full measure. 
For fulcrum, the Almighty has given 
them Himself, Himself alone! for lever, 
prayer, which enkindles the fire of love; 
and thus it is that they have uphfted 



■ Prayer 153 

the world, thus it is that saints still 
miHtant, uphft it, and will uplift it till 
the end of time. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XI 

i HE Creator of the universe awaits 
the prayer of one poor little soul to save 
a multitude of others, redeemed like her 
at the price of His Blood. 

Our vocation is not to go and reap in 
the Father's fields; Jesus does not say 
to us: *'Cast down your eyes and reap 
the harvest"; our mission is still more 
sublime. Here are the words of the 
Divine Master: ''Lift up your eyes and 
see. . ." see that in Heaven there are 
empty places; yours it is to fill them . . . 
you are as Moses praying on the moun- 
tain; ask of Me labourers and I will 
send them, I await but a prayer, a sigh 
from out your heart! 

Is not the apostolate of prayer higher 
as one might say, than that of preaching? 
It is for us to form labourers who by 
preaching the Gospel, will save thousands 
of souls of whom we thus become the 



154 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 

mothers; what then have we to envy 
the Priests of the Lord? 



XII LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



He 



LOW beautiful is our vocation! It 
is for us, it is for Carmel to preserve 
''the salt of the earth,'' ^ We offer our 
prayers and sacrifices for the apostles 
of the Lord; we ought ourselves to be 
their apostles while by word and example 
they preach the Gospel to our brethren. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. VI 



A 



NOVICE was grieving about her 
numerous distractions during prayer: 
*'I too, have many," rephed Soeur 
Therese de FEnfant Jesus, ''but I accept 
all for love of the good God, even the 
most extravagant thoughts that come 
into my head." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



H. 



_ER prayer was continual though she 
was habitually plunged in aridity. One 
day a novice entering her cell, paused, 

1 Matt., V, 13. 



Prayer 155 

struck by the celestial expression of her 
countenance. She was sewing with alac- 
rity yet seemed lost in profound con- 
templation. 

"Of what are you thinking?" asked 
the young Sister. *'I am meditating 
on the Pater,'' she rephed. ''It is so 
sweet to call the good God our Father." 
And tears shone in her eyes. 



I 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



DO not well see what more I shall 
have in Heaven than now, she once said. 
I shall see the good God, it is true; but 
as to being with Him, I am wholly with 
Him already upon earth. 



A 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



LIVING flame of Divine Love con- 
sumed her. 

''A few days after my oblation to 
God's Merciful Love," she relates, "I had 
commenced in the Choir the Way of the 
Cross, when I felt myself suddenly 
wounded by a dart of fire so ardent that 
I thought I must die. I know not how 



156 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

to describe this transport; there is no 
comparison which would make one under- 
stand the intensity of that flame. An 
invisible power seemed to plunge me 
wholly into fire . . . but oh! what fire! 
what sweetness!'' 

The Mother Prioress asked her whether 
this transport was the first in her fife, 
she answered simply: 

''Mother, I have several times had 
transports of love; once especially during 
my novitiate when I remained one entire 
week far indeed from this world; for me, 
there was as it were, a veil thrown over 
all things of the earth. But I was not 
consumed by a real flame, I was able to 
sustain those dehghts without expecting 
that their intensity would cause my 
earthly fetters to snap asunder, whilst 
on the day of which I speak, one minute, 
one second more and my soul must have 
left its prison. . . Alas! — and I found 
myself again on earth, and aridity 
immediately returned to my heart!" 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 




HOLY COMMUNION 



He 



Low sweet it was, the first kiss of 
Jesus to my soul! Yes, it was a kiss of 
Love. I felt I was loved, and I too said: 
**I love Thee, I give myself to Thee for 
ever!" Jesus asked nothing of me, 
demanded no sacrifice. Already for a 
long time past, He and the little Therese 
had watched and understood one an- 
other. . . That day our meeting was no 
longer a simple look but a fusion. No 
longer were we two: Therese had dis- 
appeared as the drop of water which 
'loses itself in the depths of the ocean, 
Jesus alone remained; the Master, the 
King! Had not Therese begged Him to 
take away from her, her Hberty? That 
liberty made her afraid; so weak, so 



158 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 

fragile did she feel herself that she 
longed to be united for ever to Divine 
Strength. 

^ HIST. D UNE AME. CH, IV 

X HAD taken as my rule of conduct, 
to receive most faithfully Holy Com- 
munion as often as my confessor per- 
mitted, without ever asking that it might 
be more frequent. I would act differ- 
ently now; for I am quite sure that a 
soul ought to make known to her director 
the attraction that she feels to receive 
her God. It is not to remain in a golden 
ciborium that He comes down each day 
from Heaven, but to find another Heaven, 
the Heaven of our soul in which He 
takes His dehght. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. V 



w. 



HAT shall I say of my thanksgiv- 
ings after Holy Communion? There are 
no moments in which I feel less consola- 
tion. And is not this very natural, seeing 
that my desire is to receive our Lord's 
visit, not for my own satisfaction, but 
solely for His pleasure. 



Holy Communion 159 

I imagine my soul to be as a plot of 
waste ground and beg the Blessed Virgin 
to remove from it all the rubbish — 
meaning its imperfections; then I beseech 
her to erect thereon, a vast canopy- 
worthy of Heaven and to decorate it with 
her own treasures, and I invite all the 
Angels and Saints to come and sing can- 
ticles of love. It seems to me then that 
Jesus is pleased to see Himself so magnifi- 
cently received; and I, I share His joy. 
All this does not hinder distractions and 
sleep from molesting me; therefore it 
not rarely happens that I resolve to 
continue my thanksgiving all the day long, 
since I have made it so badly in the 
Choir. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. VIII 



An 



^T the time of Holy Communion I 
sometimes picture my soul under the 
figure of a httle child of three or four 
years, who at play has got its hair tossed 
and its clothes soiled. — These misfor- 
tunes have befallen me in batthng with 
souls. — But very soon the Blessed Vir- 



i6o Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

gin hastens to my aid: quickly she takes 
off my Httle dirty pinafore, smooths my 
hair and adorns it with a pretty ribbon 
or simply with a Httle flower. . . and this 
suffices to render me pleasing and enables 
me to sit at the Banquet of Angels without 

^' COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



X HE demon, traitor that he is, knows 
well, that he cannot make a soul who 
wills to belong wholly to the good God, 
commit sin; therefore he endeavours 
only to persuade her that she sins. That 
is a great deal gained, but it is not yet 
enough to satisfy his rage ... he aims 
at something further, he wants to deprive 
Jesus of a loved tabernacle. Not being 
able himself to enter into this sanctuary 
he wishes that it may at least remain 
empty and without its Lord. Alas! 
what will become of this poor heart? . . . 
When the devil has succeeded in driving 
away a soul from Holy Communion he 
has gained his ends, and Jesus weeps. . . 

I LETTER TO HER COUSIN MARIE GUERIN 



A 



Holy Communion i6i 



NOVICE relates that she wanted to 
deprive herself of Holy Communion 
because of some lack of fidelity. She 
wrote her determination to Sister Therese 
of the Child Jesus who thus rephed: 

** Little flower cherished by Jesus, it is 
amply sufficient that by the humihation 
of your soul your roots eat oj the earth, . . 
You must open a httle, or rather raise 
on high your corolla so that the Bread of 
Angels may come as a divine dew to 
strengthen you, and to give you all that 
is wanting to you. 

** Good-night, poor Httle floweret; ask 
of Jesus that all the prayers offered for 
my recovery may serve to augment the 
fire which must consume me." 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 




T> 



SUFFERING 



HE cross has accompanied me from 
the cradle; but then, Jesus has made 
me love it passionately. 

IX LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY "BROTHERS** 

VyNE day my sister Marie, speaking of 
suffering, said that instead of making me 
walk by that way, the good God would 

^ No reader should be discouraged by this 
chapter on Suffering. What Soeur Therese says 
is very consoling for those who are nailed to 
the Cross; and others must remember that 
God had given to His humble Servant a sensible 
attraction for suffering, which is a rare grace 
and reserved to very few souls, though many 
imagine they possess it, and mistake their road 
choosing to follow this supposed attraction. 
Without the sensible desire and even though 
experiencing an invincible repugnance to suffer, 
souls can be sanctified. What pleases God is 
that the suffering be borne with love. 



Suffering 163 

no doubt carry me always like a little 
child. These words recurred to me after 
Holy Communion on the following day, 
and my heart was fired with an ardent 
desire of suff^ering. I felt too an inward 
assurance, that crosses in great number 
were in reserve for me. Then my soul 
was inundated with consolations such 
as I have never had again in all my fife. 
Suffering became my attraction, in it I 
found charms that entranced me. 

Another great desire that I felt, was 
to love but God alone and to find no joy 
save only in Him. Often during my 
thanksgiving after Holy Communion I 
used to repeat this passage from the 
Imitation: **0 Jesus^ who art ineffable 
sweetness, turn for me into bitterness all 
the consolations of earth,'' ^ These words 
came from my lips without effort; I 
uttered them like a child who repeats 
without too well understanding, words 
prompted by a friend. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IV 

1 Imit,, III, ch. xxvi, 3. 



164 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



s 



UFFERING has held out its arms to 
me from my very entrance into Carmel 
and lovingly have I embraced it. My 
intention in coming here, I declared in 
the solemn examination which preceded 
my profession: / am come in order to 
save souls, and especially to pray for 
Priests, When we want to attain an 
end we must employ the means, and 
Jesus having made me understand that 
He would give me souls by means of the 
cross, the more crosses I met with the 
more my attraction to suffering increased. 
During five years this way was mine; but 
I alone knew it. Here was just the 
hidden flower that I wanted to offer 
to Jesus, this flower which exhaled its 
fragrance for Heaven alone. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. VII 

_r OR one pain endured with joy, we 
shah love the good God more for ever. 

I LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 

Xn my souFs intercourse with Jesus — 
nothing . . . dryness! sleep! Since my Be- 



Suffering 165 

loved wills to sleep I shall not hinder 
Him; I am too happy in seeing that He 
does not treat me hke a stranger, that 
He is not constrained with me. He 
pierces His Httle ball through and through 
with pin-pricks sore indeed. . . When it 
is this tender Friend who Himself pierces 
His ball, the pain is naught but sweet- 
ness — so gentle is His Hand. How 
different when creatures pierce it! 

Yet I am happy, yes, truly happy to 
suffer. If Jesus does not Himself directly 
pierce His httle ball, it is certainly He 
who guides the hand that wounds! 

II LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 



Yp 



ES, I desire them, those heart- 
thrusts, those pin-pricks that give so 
much pain. . . Sacrifice I prefer to all 
ecstacies: therein Hes happiness for me, 
•I find it nowhere else. The little reed 
has no fear of breaking, for it is planted 
on the shore of the waters of Love; and 
so, when it bends, that beneficent wave 
invigorates it, and makes it long for 
another storm to come and bow down its 



1 66 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

head anew. My weakness It is, that 
makes my whole strength. Whatever 
happens I cannot get broken; I see only 
the gentle hand of Jesus. 

To win the palm no suffering is too 

^ * III LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 

X HE drop of gall must be mingled in 
every cup, but I fmd that trials greatly 
help to detach us from earth; they make 
us look higher than this world. Nothing 
here below can satisfy us; we can enjoy 
a httle repose only by being ready to do 
God's Will. 

I LETTER TO MERE AGNES DE JESUS 



M^ 



lY soul has known many kinds of 
trials, greatly have I suffered here on 
earth. In my childhood I suffered with 
sadness; now, it is with peace and joy 
that I taste of all the bitter fruits. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 

lOUFFERING united to love is the only 
thing that appears to me desirable in 
this vale of tears. 

IX LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY " BROTHERS*' 



w. 



Suffering 167 



HEN we are expecting only suffering 
the least joy surprises us: suffering 
itself becomes the greatest of joys when 
we seek it as a precious treasure. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 



T. 



HERE are people who take every- 
thing in the way that gives them the 
most pain; with me it is the reverse; 
I see always the good side of things. 
If I have naught but pure suffering, 
without any break, well! I make of it 
my joy. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



O OY is not in the things that surround 
us, it resides in the interior of the soul. 
One may possess it in the depths of a 
gloomy prison as well as in a royal 
palace. Thus am I happier in Carmel, 
even in the midst of interior and exterior 
trials, than in the world, where nothing 
was wanting to me. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. VI 



I 



F now, amid trials, and in the thick 
of the fight, we can already find such 



1 68 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 

delight in the thought that God has 
drawn us away from the world, what 
will it be, when in Heaven's eternal 
glory and never-ending rest, we shall 
understand the incomparable favour He 
has shown us in choosing us here, to 
dwell in His own House — the very 
threshold of Heaven. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. X 



J_jET us not expect to find Love with- 
out Suffering. Our nature is there, and 
it is not there for nothing; but what 
treasures it enables us to acquire! It 
is our means of gain; so precious is it 
that Jesus came down upon earth ex- 
pressly to possess it. . . We want to 
suffer generously, grandly; we wish 
never to fall; what illusion! And what 
does it matter to me if I fall every minute? 
I find great profit in it, for thereby I see 
my weakness. My God, You know what 
I am capable of unless You carry me in 
Your arms; and if You leave me alone, 
well; it is that it pleases you to see me 



I 



Suffering 1 69 

on the ground, so why should I be dis- 
quieted? 



V LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



L. 



^IFE is often irksome and bitter; it 
is hard to begin a laborious day, above 
all when Jesus hides Himself from us. 
What is this tender Friend doing? 
Does He not then see our anguish, 
the load that oppresses us; where is 
He? Why does He not come to con- 
sole us? 

Ah, fear not. . . He is there, quite 
near! He is watching us; He, it is, who 
begs for these our labours and our 
tears. . . He has need of them for souls, 
for our soul; He wants to give us so 
glorious a recompense. Ah! truly, it 
costs Him to make us drink of this 
bitter cup, but He knows that it is the 
one way by which to prepare us to know 
Him as He knows Himself and to become 
ourselves God-hke. What a destiny! 
How great is the soul. Let us rise above 
all that passes away, let us hold aloof 
from the earth, up on high the air is so 



1 70 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

pure; Jesus may hide Himself but one 
is conscious of His presence. 

I LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 






w, 



HEN we speak of peace we do not 
mean joy — not at least sensible joy; 
to suffer in peace it is enough that we 
truly will all that God wills. 

V LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



Nc 



I OTWITHSTANDING the trial 
which deprives me of every feeHng of 
enjoyment I can yet exclaim, ^^Thou 
hast given me delight, Lord, in all Thou 
dost." ^ For is there a greater joy than 
to suffer for Thy Love? The more 
intense the suffering and the less apparent 
to human eyes, the more lovingly dost 
Thou smile upon it, O my God. And 
even — supposing an impossibihty — if 
Thou wert unaware of it, I would still 
be happy to suffer, in the hope that by 
my tears I might perhaps prevent, or 
make reparation for one single sin against 
faith. 

HIST. D UNE AME, CH. IX 

^ Ps., xci, 5. 



M. 



Suffering 171 



.INE is not an unfeeling heart, and 
it is just because of its capacity to suffer 
deeply that I desire to offer to Jesus 
every kind of suffering it can endure. 

HIST. D*UNE AME, CH. IX 

JLjIFE is full of sacrifices, it is true; 
but why look for happiness in it? Is it 
not simply *'a night to be passed in a 
bad Inn" as says our Holy Mother Saint 
Teresa? 

My heart has an ardent thirst for 
happiness, but well do I see that no 
creature is capable of allaying this thirst. 
On the contrary, the more I might 
drink of the waters of that enchanted 
spring the more burning would be my 
thirst. 

I know a fountain where they that 
drink shall yet thirst,^ but with a thirst 
most sweet, a thirst one can always 
satisfy; this fountain is the suffering 
that is known to Jesus alone! . . . 

II LETTER TO SR. MARIE DU SACRE-CCEUR 

^ C/. Eccles., xxiv, 29. 



172 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



o, 



"UR Lord never asks of us any 
sacrifice above our strength. Sometimes, 
in truth, the Divine Master makes us 
taste the full bitterness of the chahce 
which He presents to our soul. When 
He asks the sacrifice of everything most 
dear to us in this world, it is impossible 
unless by a very special grace, not to cry 
out as He did in the Garden of the 
Agony: ''My Father, let this chalice pass 
from Me. . ." But let us also hasten 
to add: ''Nevertheless not as I will but as 
Thou wilt.'' ^ It is very consohng to 
think that Jesus — Divine Strength it- 
self — has experienced all our weakness, 
that He trembled at the sight of the 
bitter chahce, the chahce He had longed 
for so ardently. 

I LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY " BROTHERS" 



s 



INGE our Well-Beloved has "trodden 
the wine-press alone,'' ^ — the wine which 
He gives us to drink — in our turn let 
us not refuse to wear garments dyed 

1 Matt., xxvi, 39. ^ Isa., Ixiii, 3. 



Suffering 173 

with blood, let us press out for Jesus a 
new wine which may slake His thirst, 
and looking around Him He will no 
longer be able to say that He is alone; 
we shall be there to help.^ 

Neglect, forgetfulness . . . this it is, 
it seems to me, which still pains Him 
the most. 



VIII LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



He 



.ERE on earth, where all changes, 
one sole thing changes not, the King of 
Heaven's mode of acting as regards His 
friends. Ever since He uphfted the 
standard of the Cross, it is in its shadow 
that all must fight and gain the victory. 

VI LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY "BROTHERS " 



I 



T is indeed more through suffering 
and persecution than through eloquent 
preaching, that God wills to estabhsh 
His Kingdom in souls. 

VI LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY " BROTHERS" 

^ Isa., Ixfii, 5. 



174 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



I 



WANT to forget this world; here 
below, all things weary me, I find no 
joy save one, that of suffering . . . and 
this joy, though unfelt, is above every 
other. 



V LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



Wj 



HEN I suffer much, when things 
that are painful and disagreeable befall 
me, instead of assuming an air of sadness, 
I respond by a smile. At first I was 
not always successful, but now it is a 
habit which I am very happy to have 
acquired. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



A 



NOVICE was complaining of being 
more tired than her Sisters, for besides 
the common work, she had done another 
task, of which they knew nothing. 
Therese answered: '*I want to see you 
always Hke a vahant soldier who does 
not complain of his pains; who thinks 
very seriously of the wounds of his 
brothers and regards his own as mere 
scratches. Why do you feel this fatigue 




THE SERVAI^IT OF GOD 
SR.THERESE OF THE CHU.D JESUS 

AND OF THE HOLY FACE 



I 



Suffering 175 

to such a degree? It is because no one 
knows about it. . . 

*' Blessed Margaret Mary having had 
two whitlows used to say she had only 
really suffered from the first one, because 
it had not been possible for her to hide 
the second from her Sisters, and thus 
it became the object of their compas- 
sion. 

**This feehng is natural to us; yet to 
wish that all should know when we 
suffer is a very commonplace manner of 
acting." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



D( 



"URING the first months of her 
illness it was on her hard palhasse that 
Sister Therese passed the time of rest, 
and her nights were very bad: when 
asked whether she did not need some 
assistance during those hours of pain, 
she rephed: **0h, no on the contrary, I 
think myself very fortunate to be in a 
cell distant enough for my Sisters not to 
hear me. I rejoice to suffer alone; but 
from the moment I am pitied and sur- 



176 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

rounded with delicate attentions I can no 
longer feel this joy." 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



Tf 



HE Sister infirmarian remarking, 
'*It is said that you have never suffered 
very much." Therese smiled and point- 
ing to a glass containing a draught of 
medicine, bright red in colour, rephed, 
**See this Kttle glass, one would imagine 
it full of some choice hqueur, but in 
reahty I take nothing that is more bitter. 
Well! it is an image of my hfe; to the 
eyes of others it has ever appeared 
clothed in the most radiant hues; to 
them it seemed as though I drank a 
dehcious hqueur, while in truth it was 
bitterness. I say bitterness, and yet 
my hfe has not been bitter, for I have 
known how to make of all bitterness my 
sweetness and my joy." 

*' You are in great pain at this moment, 
are you not?" '*Yes . . . but I have so 
much desired to suffer." 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



He 



Suffering 177 



Low it grieves us to see you suffer, 
and to think you may perhaps have still 
more to endure," the novices were saying 
to her. 

**0h! do not be troubled about me, I 
have arrived at the stage of being no 
longer able to suffer, because all suffering 
is sweet to me." 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



A 



SISTER, who doubted her patience, 
noticed, when visiting her one day, an 
expression of heavenly joy on her coun- 
tenance and wished to know the reason. 
"It is because of the very acute pain I 
am feehng," rephed Therese, "I have 
always striven to love suffering and to 
give it a cordial welcome." 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



W. 



HY are you so gay this morning?" 
she was asked; **It is because I have 
had two httle trials, nothing gives me 
little joys like little trials,'' 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



1 78 Thoughts of Sceur Therese 



A, 



.MOTHER time: "You have had a 
great many trials today." 

*' Yes, but . . . seeing that I love them! 
... I love everything the good God 
sends me." 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



Ac 



L.GAIN, when some one said to her: 
"It is dreadful — all you are suffering." 

"No, it is not dreadful; could a Httle 
Victim of Love find anything dreadful 
that her Spouse sends her? He gives 
me at each moment what I can bear; 
not more; and the minute He increases 
my sufferings He also augments my 
fortitude. 

"Yet I could never ask for greater 
sufferings, for I am too httle; they 
would be my own — my own choosing, 
then I should haye to bear them by 
myself, and I have never been able to do 
anything all alone." 



D. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



^URING her long and painful agony [ 
she exclaimed: "The chahce is full to] 



Suffering 179 

the brim. Never could I have believed it 
possible to suffer so much. . . I can 
only find the explanation in my extreme 
longing to save souls. . . Oh! I would 
not suffer less." 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



I 




0, 



THE DIRECTION OF 
SOULS 



'UR Lord allowed me the consolation 
of closely studying the souls of children. 

Considering these innocent souls I 
used to compare them to soft wax, upon 
which any impression may be stamped 
the bad, alas! hke the good; and I under- 
stood those words of Jesus: ^' But he 
that shall scandalize one of these little ones 
. . . it were better for him that a millstone 
were hanged about his neck and that he 
were drowned in the depth of the sea,'' ^ 
Oh! how many souls might attain to a 
high degree of hohness if wisely guided 
from the very first. 

I well know that to accomplish His 

1 Matt., xviii, 6. 



The Direction of Souls i8i 

work of sanctification, God has need of 
no one, but just as He enables a skilful 
gardener to rear plants that are dehcate 
and rare, granting him for this end all 
the knowledge necessary, while reserving 
to Himself the care of giving the increase, 
so, too, does He will to be aided in His 
divine culture of souls. 



A. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. V 



^S soon as I penetrated into the 
sanctuary of souls I judged at the first 
glance that the task exceeded my powers, 
and very quickly placing myself in the 
arms of the good God I imitated the 
Httle child, who, seized with sudden 
fear, tries to hide its golden head on its 
father's shoulder, and I said: "Lord, 
Thou knowest it, I am myself too Httle 
to be capable of nurturing these Thy 
children; if Thou dost will to give to 
them, through me, what is suited to 
each one, fill Thou my httle hand, and 
without leaving Thine arms, without 
even turning my head aside, I will 
distribute Thy treasures to the souls who 



1 82 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

come to me to seek sustenance. When 
they find it to their Hking I shall know- 
that it is not to me they owe it but to 
Thee; on the other hand if they com- 
plain, and find bitter what I offer them, 
my peace shall remain undisturbed, 
I will try to convince them that this 
nutriment comes from Thee, and I will 
carefully refrain from seeking any other 
for them." 

When I thus understood that it was 
impossible for me to do anything by my- 
self, the task appeared to me simplified. 
Interiorly, I occupied myself solely in 
trying to become more and more united 
to God — knowing that the rest would 
be added unto me. 



F. 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. X 



ROM afar it seems easy to do good 
to souls, to make them love God more, 
to mould them after our own views and 
opinions. But coming closer one feels, 
on the contrary, that to do good without 
the divine assistance, is as impossible a 
thing as to bring the sun back after it 



The Direction of Souls 183 

has set. One feels that it is absolutely 
necessary to forget our own inchnations, 
our personal notions, and to guide souls, 
not by our own way — the way we 
ourselves go — but by the particular 
way that Jesus wishes to lead them. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. X 



w. 



HEN very young, and staying with 
my aunt, a book was given to me to read. 
In one of the stories I saw that the 
mistress of a school was much praised 
because she knew how to get on cleverly 
in the world without offending anyone. 
This phrase I remarked especially: **She 
would say to the one, *You are not 
wrong,' and to the other, * You are right;" 
and while I read I was thinking: ''Oh! . . . 
I would not have acted thus; we must 
always tell the truth." And so I do, 
always. Far more difficult it certainly 
is, for when told of some Httle vexatious 
occurrence, it would be easy to lay blame 
on the absent, and she who complains 
would at once be pacified. Yes, but . . . 
I do quite the reverse. If I am not 



184 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

liked, what matter! Let no one come 
to me who does not want to hear the 
truth. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



T. 



HAT a reprimand may be fruitful it 
must cost in the giving; and it must be 
given without a shade of passion in the 
heart. 

One must not let kindness degenerate 
into weakness. When we have blamed 
justly we ought to leave it so, and not 
yield to feehngs of distress at having 
given pain. To run after the aggrieved 
one in order to console her, is to do more 
harm than good. To leave her to herself 
is to force her to expect nothing from 
creatures, to have recourse to the good 
God, to see her faihngs and to humble 
herself. Otherwise she would grow accus- 
tomed to being consoled after a deserved 
rebuke and would behave as does a 
spoilt child, who stamps and cries, well 
knowing that this will make its mother 
return to wipe away the tears. 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



The Direction of Souls 185 

T "^- 

I J FT the sword of the Spirit, which is the 
Word of God, abound in your lips and 
hearts.^ If we have to do with a difficult 
soul, let us not be discouraged, nor ever 
abandon her. Let us have always ''the 
sword of the Spirit" to reprehend her for 
her faults, and not allow things to pass 
for the sake of leaving ourselves in 
repose; let us fight unceasingly, even 
without hope of gaining the victory. 
What matter about success! Let us 
fight on, whatever be the weariness of 
the struggle. Let us not say: *'I can 
make nothing of this soul, she does not 
understand; I must give it up." Oh! 
what cowardice that would be. We must 
do our duty unto the end. 

[Sceur Therese in these passages refers to 
her charge as Mistress of Novices.] 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

JL HE novices expressed their surprise 
at finding that she guessed their most 
hidden thoughts. 

1 Ephes., vi, 17. 



1 86 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

*'Here is my secret," she said to them: 
*'I never give you any advice without 
invoking the Blessed Virgin; I ask her 
to inspire me to say what will do you 
the most good, and I myself am often 
astonished at the things that I teach 
you. I simply feel in saying them to 
you, that I am not deceived and that 
Jesus speaks to you by my mouth." 

HIST. D*UNE AME, CH. XII 



G. 



nVE us some advice as to how we 
ought to act concerning our spiritual 
direction," they said to her. 

"With great simpHcity and without 
depending too much on assistance, which 
may fail you at any moment. You 
would soon be forced to say with the 
Spouse in the Canticles : 'The keepers . . . 
took away my veil from me and wounded 
me,' it was only 'when I had a little passed 
BY them I found Him whom my soul 
loveth,' ^ If with detachment you humbly 
inquire where is your Beloved, the keepers 
will direct you. Nevertheless, most fre- 

^ Cant., V, 7; iii, 4. 



The Direction of Souls 187 

quently, you will find Jesus only after 
you have passed by all creatures. For 
my part, I have many a time repeated 
this verse of the Spiritual Canticle of 
St. John of the Cross : 

Send me no more 
A messenger 

Who cannot tell me what I seek. 
All they who serve 
Relate a thousand graces of Thee; 
And all wound me more and more, 
And they leave me dying, 
While they babble I know not what." 
Trans, D. Lewis, M. A. 

counsels and reminiscences 




THE BLESSED VIRGIN 



He 



Low I love the Blessed Virgin! 
Had I been a Priest, oh! how I should 
have spoken of her. She is represented 
as unapproachable, rather ought she to 
be shown as imitable. She is more 
Mother * than Queen. I have heard it 
said that all the Saints are echpsed by 
her radiant brightness as the sun at 
rising makes the stars disappear. How 
strange that seems — a mother edipsing 
the glory of her children! I think quite 
the contrary. I beheve that she will 
immensely increase the splendour of the 
elect. . . The Virgin Mary! how simple 
does her Hfe appear to me. . . 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. XII 



s< 



The Blessed Virgin 189 



SOMETIMES I find myself saying to 
the Holy Virgin: *'Do you know, O 
cherished Mother, that I think myself 
more fortunate than you? I have you 
for Mother and you have not, like me, 
the Blessed Virgin to love. . . You 
are, it is true, the Mother of Jesus, but 
you have given Him to me, and He, 
from the cross gave you to us as our 
Mother, so we are richer than you. 
Of old it was your desire that you might 
be the httle handmaiden of the Mother 
of God; and I, poor Httle creature, I am, 
not your servant, but your child: you 
are the Mother of Jesus and you are my 
Mother.'' 

XIII LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 







MARY, if I were Queen of Heaven 
and thou wert Therese, I fain would be 
Therese to see thee Queen of Heaven! 

8 September, 1897. 

Last words written by Sister Therese 
of the Child Jesus. 




VARIOUS SUBJECTS 

J_jEONIE, no doubt finding that she 
was growing too old to play with dolls, 
came one day to Cehne and me, with a 
basket full of dolls' clothes, odds and 
ends of pretty materials, trimmings, etc., 
on which she had laid her doll, saying 
to us: ''There, httle sisters — choose!" 
Cehne looked, and took a knot of edging. 
After reflecting a moment I, in turn, 
put out my hand saying: ''I choose all!" 
and I carried off* basket and doH without 
further ceremony. 

This trait of my childhood is, as it 
were, a summary of my entire hfe. 
Later on when the meaning of perfection 
began to unfold itself to me, I understood 
that to become a saint it is necessary to 



Various Subjects 191 

suffer much, ever to seek after that 
which is most perfect, and to forget 
self. I understood that in sanctity the 
degrees are many, that each soul is free 
to respond to the advances of our Lord, 
to do Httle or much for His sake, in a 
word, to choose between the sacrifices 
that He asks. Then, as in the days of 
my childhood, I exclaimed: *'My God, 
I choose all! I do not wish to be a saint 
by halves; the thought of suffering for 
Thee does not frighten me, one thing 
only do I fear — my own will ; take Thou 
my will, for / choose all that Thou wiliest." 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. I 



M^ 



.Y Father took me for a pleasant 
tour during which I began to know a httle 
of the world. Around me all was gaiety 
and dehght; I was made welcome, 
petted, admired, in short, for fifteen 
days the pathway of my Hfe was strewn 
with naught but flowers. Holy Wisdom 
well says that the bewitching of trifles 
overturneth the innocent mind,^ At the 

^ C/. Wisdom, iv, 12. 



192 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

age of ten the heart easily allows itself 
to be dazzled, and I own that this sort 
of hfe had some charms for me. Alas! 
how well the world contrives to reconcile 
the dehghts of earth with the service 
of God. How seldom does it think of 
death. 

And death, nevertheless, has come to 
a great many of the people whom I 
then knew, young, rich and prosperous. 
I Hke to go back in thought to their 
beautiful dwelhngs, to ask myself where 
are they, and what benefit do they now 
draw from the castles and parks where 
I saw them enjoying all the comforts of 
Hfe. . . And I reflect that "all is 
vanity'''^ ''but to love God and to serve 
Him alone,'' ^ 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. IV 



Wf 



HAT compassion I have for souls 
who are going astray. It is so easy to 
lose one's way in the flowery paths of 
the world. Undoubtedly for a soul 
who has risen a Httle above the things of 

1 Eccles., i, 2. 2 Imit., I, i, 3. 



Various Subjects 193 

earth, the sweetness offered is inter- 
mingled with bitterness, and the immense 
void of its desires cannot be filled by the 
praises of a moment. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IV 



We 



E have but Hfe's brief day to save 
souls and thus to give to Jesus proof of 
our love. The morrow of this day will 
be Eternity and then He will render to 
you a hundredfold for the joys which 
you have sacrificed for Him. He knows 
the extent of your sacrifice. He knows 
that the grief of those dear to you in- 
creases your own still more; but to save 
our souls He has Himself suff^ered this 
martyrdom. He too, left His Mother, 
He saw the Immaculate Virgin stand at 
the foot of the Cross, her heart trans- 
pierced by the sword of sorrow. 

Ah! if the Divine Master would but 
grant to those whom you are going to 
leave for His sake, a foresight of the 
glory He reserves for you, the multitude 
of souls who in heaven will form your 
train, they would be already recompensed 



194 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

for their great sacrifice in parting with 
you. 

II LETTER TO HER MISSIONARY " BROTHERS*' 

Jl he good God has promised a 
hundredfold to all who have left father 
or mother or sister for love of Him. 
These words are, I know, usually apphed 
to those who have entered the rehgious 
state, but in my heart I feel that they 
were also spoken for the generous parents 
who make to God the sacrifice of children 
whom they cherish more than self. 



LETTER TO HER COUSIN JEANNE GUERIN 



H 



Low can a heart given up to human 
affection be united intimately to God? 
That, I feel is not possible. I have seen 
so many souls deluded by this treacher- 
ous light, dart into it hke the poor moth 
and burn their wings, then return 
wounded to Jesus, the Divine Fire 
which burns without consuming. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IV 



I 



Various Subjects 195 



N giving oneself to God the heart does 
not lose its natural tenderness; on the 
contrary, its love grows deeper by 
becoming more pure and more Christ- 
Hke. 

HIST. D UNE AME, CH. IX 

X HERE are souls for whom God's 
mercy wearies not of waiting, and to 
whom He gives His light only by degrees. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. X 



w. 



HEN in the morning we feel no 
courage, no energy for the practice of 
virtue, this is a grace, this is the moment 
to ''lay the axe to the root oj the tree.'' ^ 
depending solely on Jesus. If we fall 
all is retrieved by an act of love, and 
Jesus smiles. He helps us without ap- 
pearing to do so, and the tears which 
the wicked cause Him to shed are 
dried by our poor feeble love. 

II LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



w. 



E must practice the Httle virtues. 
This is difficult sometimes, but the good 

1 Matt., iif, 10. 



196 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

God never refuses the first grace, which 
gives courage to conquer self: if the soul 
corresponds to it she will find that she 
immediately receives fight. I have ever 
been struck with those words of praise 
to Judith: ** Thou hast done manfully y and 
thy heart has been strengthened.'' ^ We 
must first act with courage, then the 
heart is strengthened and we go from 
victory to victory. 



M^ 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



_Y God, how varied are the ways by 
which Thou dost lead souls. In reading 
the Lives of the Saints we find a great 
number of whom nothing has remained 
to us after their death: not the smallest 
souvenir, not a written fine. Others 
there are, on the contrary, fike our Holy 
Mother Saint Teresa, who have enriched 
the Church with their subfime doctrine, 
not fearing to reveal the secrets of the King,^ 
in the hope that souls might know Him 
better and love Him more. Which of 
these two ways pleases our Lord best? 

1 Judith, XV, 11. 2 Tobias, xii. 



Various Subjects 197 

It seems to me that they are equally 
pleasing to Him. 

All the well-beloved of God have 
followed the inspiration of the Holy 
Spirit by whom the Prophet wrote: 
''Say to the just that all is well'' ^ Yes, 
all is well when we seek only the Divine 
Will. 



He 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. IX 



Low narrow are the thoughts of 
creatures! When they see that a soul 
has hghts which surpass their own, they 
conclude that the Divine Master loves 
them less. Since when, then, has He 
lost the right to make use of one of His 
creatures, in order to dispense to His 
children the sustenance needful for them? 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. X 

W HEN we are grieved at our power- 
lessness to do good, our only resource is 
to offer to God the works of others. 
In this you see the benefit of the com- 
munion of Saints. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

^ CJ. Isaias, iii, 10. 



198 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



T, 



HOUGH I do not undervalue beauti- 
ful thoughts that seem to unite us to 
God, I have long understood that we 
must carefully guard against leaning 
too much upon them. The most sub- 
Hme inspirations are nothing without 
deeds. 

Other souls, it is true, may draw there- 
from much profit if they testify humble 
gratitude to God for being permitted to 
share the feast of one of His privileged 
children. But if the privileged one were 
to grow vain of her spiritual riches, if 
her prayer resembled that of the Pharisee, 
she herself would become hke to a person 
starving to death before a well-served 
table while all her guests take from it 
abundant nourishment, and cast perhaps 
a look of envy on the possessor of so 
much wealth. 

HIST. D UNE AME, CH. X 

X HE Well-Beloved has no need of our 
glorious deeds nor of our fine thoughts. 
If He desire sublime conceptions has He 
not His Angels, whose knowledge sur- 



Various Subjects 199 

passes infinitely that of the world's 
greatest geniuses? It is not then either 
intellect or talent that He looks for 
here below. . . He has called Himself the 
Flower of the Field ^ to show us how 
much He cherishes simphcity. 

XIV LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 

X O keep the word of Jesus, this is the 
sole condition of our happiness, the proof 
of our love for Him; and this word — 
it seems to me that it is Himself, since 
He is called the Uncreated Word of the 
Father. 

XVIII LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 

J ESUS needs neither books nor Doctors 
of Divinity in order to instruct souls; 
He, the Doctor of Doctors, He teaches 
without noise of words. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. VIII 

l\S Text there is a verse which I utter 
unwilKngly each day. It is this: In- 
clinavi cor meum ad Jaciendas justifica- 

^ Cant., ii, i. 



i 



200 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

tiones tuas in deternum, propter retribu- 
tionem.'' (I have inclined my heart to 
do Thy justifications for ever, because 
of the reward.) ^ Interiorly, I hasten 
to say: *'0 my Jesus, Thou knowest 
well that it is not for the reward I serve 
Thee, but solely because I love Thee, 
and for the sake of saving souls. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



I 



N Heaven only shall we see the abso- 
lute truth concerning all things. On 
earth, even in the Hol^^ Scripture, there 
is a certain obscurity: it grieves me to 
see differences in the translations; had 
I been a Priest I would have learned 
Hebrew, so that I might be able to read 
the Word of God in that human language 
in which He deigned to express it. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

We are not yet in our Fatherland, 
and temptation must purify us as gold is 
purified by the action of fire. 

XVIII LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 
1 Ps., CXviii, 112. 



I 



Various Subjects 201 



T is best not to expose oneself to the 
combat when defeat is certain. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 

VjrOD is often satisfied with our desire 
of labouring for His glory. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. IX 



A 



SOUL in the state of grace has 
nothing to fear from the demons, who are 
cowards, capable of flight before the gaze 
of a child. 



IT 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. I 



the pure all is pure,^ the simple and 
upright soul sees not evil in anything, 
since evil exists in impure hearts only 
and not in material objects. 

HIST. d'uNE AME, CH. VI 

jL he good God has told us that in the 
Last Day He ''will wipe away all tears 
from our eyes," ^ and without doubt, the 
more tears to be dried, the greater will 
be the consolation. 

Ill LETTER TO SR. MARIE DU SACRE-CCEUR 

^ Titus, i, 15. 2 Apoc, xxi, 4. 



202 Thoughts oj Soeur Therese 



T. 



HE Spouse in the Canticles, not 
having been able in repose to find her 
Beloved, arose, she says and went about 
the city to seek Him, but in vain . . . 
she could not find Him save beyond the 
ramparts. It is not the will of Jesus 
that we should find His adorable Presence 
without effort. He hides Himself, He 
envelopes Himself with darkness. . . It 
was not thus He acted in regard to the 
multitudes, for we read in the Gospels 
that the people were in admiration when 
He spoke. 

Weak souls Jesus charmed by His 
divine utterances. He was trying to 
render them strong for the day of tempta- 
tion and of trial; but small, truly, was 
the number of His faithful friends when 
He was silent ^ before His judges. Oh, ' 
w^hat melody for my heart is that silence 
of the Divine Master. 

XV LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



I 



HAVE read in the Holy Gospel that 
the Divine Shepherd leaves in the desert 
^ Matt., xxvi, 65. 



Various Subjects 203 

all His faithful flock, to go in haste after 
the sheep that is lost. How touching 
is this confidence. He is sure of them, 
they are captives of love — how could 
they break away? Even so does the 
well-beloved Shepherd of our souls rob 
us of the sense of His presence in order 
to give to sinners His consolations; or 
else, if He leads us to Mount Thabor it 
is for one moment . . . the valleys are 
nearly always the place of pasture, it is 
there He takes His repose at mid-day,^ 

XVI LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 

X HE sole crime with which Herod 
reproached our Lord was Jolly . . . and 
frankly, that charge was true. Yes, it 
was folly to come seeking the poor 
shallow hearts of mortals, therein to 
make His throne. He, the King of 
Glory Who sitteth above the Cherubim! 
Was not His happiness complete in the 
company of His Father and the Spirit of 
Love? Why come to earth to seek out 

^ Cant., i, 6. 



204 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

sinners and to make of them His friends, 
His chosen companions? 

XX LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



M, 



.ARY, breaking the fragile vase poured 
out upon the Head of her Saviour a perfume 
of great price ^ and the whole house was 
filled with the fragrance thereof, ^ 

The Apostles murmured against Mag- 
dalene; and this it is which still happens 
with regard to us : some, even of the most 
fervent Christians think we (CarmeHtes) 
are exaggerated, that Hke Martha we 
ought to serve Jesus, instead of conse- 
crating to Him the vases of our Hves 
with the perfumes which are hidden with- 
in. And yet what matters it — the 
breaking of these vases — since our Lord 
is consoled, and the world in spite of 
itself is made sensible of the fragrance 
they exhale. And oh! how necessary 
are these perfumes to purify the un- 
healthy atmosphere that it breathes. 

XX LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 

1 Cf. Marc, xiii, 3. 2 Q"^ John, xii, 3. 



I 



Or 



Various Subjects 205 



'NE day when I was in tears," relates 
a novice, *' Sister Therese of the Child 
Jesus told me to acquire a habit of 
hiding my httle troubles, adding that 
nothing renders community hfe more 
difficult than inequahty of temperament. 

'*You are quite right," I answered, 
" I have thought so myself, and in future 
I shall never cry but when alone with the 
good God; to Him only shall I con- 
fide my trials. He will always under- 
stand and console me." 

"Shed tears before the good God!" 
she repHed with vivacity, *'take care 
you do no such thing. Still less, by far, 
before Him than before creatures ought 
you to exhibit signs of sadness. He has 
but our monasteries, this dear Master, 
to rejoice His Heart; He comes amongst 
us to find a httle repose, to forget the 
continual lamentations of His friends in 
the world who for the most part, instead 
of recognizing the value of the Cross, 
meet it with repining and with tears; 
and would you behave Hke the generahty 
of people? . . . Frankly that is not 



2o6 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

disinterested love — disinterested love is 
for us to console Jesus, not for Him to 
console us, 

*'He is, I know, so kind of heart that 
if you weep He will dry your tears; 
but afterwards He will go away quite 
sorrowful, not being able to find in you 
the repose He sought. Jesus loves the 
joyous heart. He loves the ever smihng 
soul. When will you learn to hide your 
troubles from Him, or to tell Him in 
gladsome tones that you are happy to 
suffer for His sake?'' 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

X HE soul is reflected in the coun- 
tenance: like to a Httle child always 
content, your countenance should be 
invariably calm and serene. When you 
are alone be still the same, because you 
are ever in the Angels' sight. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

V>^UR Divine Lord wishes to have His 
court here below as on High, He desires 
angel-martyrs, angel-apostles. 

XI LETTER TO HER SISTER CELINE 



J 



I A 



Various Subjects 207 



SISTER, greatly grieved at seeing 
her so ill often exclaimed: "Oh, how 
sad is hfe!" But Soeur Therese would 
at once correct her, saying: 

''Life is not sad, but on the contrary 
most joyful. If you said *How sad is 
our exile,' I should understand you. 
It is erroneous to give the name, '/i/e,' 
to that which must end. Only to the 
things of Heaven, to that which shall 
never know death, should the true name 
of 'life' be given; and in this significa- 
tion life is not sad but joyful — joyous 
exceedingly! ..." 

Her own gaiety was dehghtful to 
witness. 

For several days she had been much 
better and the novices said to her: '*We 
do not yet know of what malady you 
will die. . ." 

"But I shall die 0/ death! Did not 
God tell Adam of what he would die, 
saying to him: Thou shalt die of death?" 
(In the French: " Tu mourras de mort.'') ^ 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 

^ C/. Gen., if, 17. 



2o8 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 



I 



T is not Death that will come to fetch 
me, it is the good God. Death is no 
phantom, no horrible spectre, as repre- 
sented in pictures. In the Catechism it 
is stated that death is the separation of 
soul and body, that is all! Well, I am 
not afraid of a separation which will 
unite me to the good God for ever. 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



O 



'NE day she said to the Mother 
Prioress : 

** Mother, I beseech you, give me 
permission to die. . . Let me offer my 
Hfe for ..." mentioning the intention. 
And this permission being refused: 
*'Very well," she resumed, **I know 
that at this moment the good God so 
much desires a little bunch of grapes 
which no one wishes to present to Him, 
that He will certainly be forced to come 
and steal it. . . I ask nothing, for that 
would be to depart from my way of 
abandonment, I merely beg the Blessed 
Virgin Mary to recall to her Jesus the 



A 



Various Subjects 209 

title of Thief which He gives Himself 
in the holy Gospel, so that He may not 
forget to come to steal me away." 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



w. 



ILL the Divine Thief be coming 
very soon to steal His httle bunch of 
grapes?" some one asked. 

I see Him afar off, and I take good 
care not to cry out **Stop Thief!!!" On 
the contrary I call Him saying: "This 
way! this way!" 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



X HE Chaplain asked me: **Are you 
resigned to die?" I said: **Ah! Father, 
I find it would be for hving that I should 
need resignation, but as regards dying, 
I feel only joy." 



HIST. D UNE AME, CH. XII 



Y( 



OU will be placed amid the Seraphim 
in Heaven," a novice said. 

*'If that should happen, I shall not 
imitate them; they cover themselves 



210 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

with their wings at the sight of God. 
I shall take good care not to cover my- 
self with my wings!" 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



u 



'NDER what name should we pray 
to you when you are in Heaven?" they 
asked her. She answered humbly: *'You 
will call me *httle Therese.' ('petite 
Therese,' )" 

COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



Yc 



OU will look upon us from the heights 
of heaven, will you not?" 
*'No, I shall come down." 



COUNSELS AND REMINISCENCES 



A, 



^FTER my death I shall let fall a 
shower of roses." 

His-;^. d'une ame, ch. xii 



PRAYER FOR THE BEATIFICATION OF 
THE SERVANT OF GOD 







JESUS, who, to put our pride to 
confusion didst will to become a little 
child, and who later pronounced that 
solemn decree: ''Unless ye become as 
little children ye shall not enter the King- 
dom oj Heaven/' deign to hsten to our 
humble prayer in regard to her who 
lived perfectly that hfe of spiritual child- 
hood, and who has so well recalled to us 
the way. 

O Httle Babe of Bethlehem, by the 
ineffable charms of Thy Divine Infancy, 
O adorable Face of Jesus, by the humiha- 
tions of Thy Passion, we implore, that 
if it be for the glory of God and for the 
sanctification of souls, the halo of the 
Blessed may soon irradiate the pure 
brow of Thy childhke spouse, Therese 
of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face. 



212 Thoughts of Soeur Therese 

O God, who didst inflame with Thy 
Spirit of Love the soul of Thy Servant, 
Therese of the Child Jesus, grant that 
we also may love Thee and may make 
Thee greatly loved. 

[Adapted Jrom a prayer of Soeur Therese.] 

100 days' indulgence. 
►J< Card. Bourne, Arch, of Westminster, 
August I, 19 1 2. 



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